Recognizable from the Inside
by welfycat
Summary: Sometimes we don't recognize our family until they're right in front of us. (Content Warnings: Child Abuse, Self Harm, Sexual Abuse)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"There! That's her!" Jeremy said, his voice just above a whisper.

Michael leaned to see around the brick pillar into the hotel lobby. "Are you sure?"

Jeremy turned to face Michael. "One hundred percent. It's her. Finally. Let's go."

"What are we supposed to say? 'Hi, you may not remember us, but we're your half brothers?'" Michael asked.

"Something like that. This is our only chance. We have to do something," Jeremy said. He folded his arms. "I'm going over there."

Michael sighed. "Okay. Try not to scare her." He stood up, all too aware of how tall he was and how awkward he looked. Turning sixteen had led to a growth spurt that put him at nearly six feet tall. Jeremy, still only fourteen, didn't quite top Michael's shoulders now.

"Here goes nothing," Jeremy said to himself as they walked across the lobby. He hesitated for a moment, glancing up at Michael, and then walked the final few steps up to the table. "Hi. Mind if we join you?"

The girl at the table looked up in surprise, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. "Okay," she said, her voice sounding uncertain.

Jeremy sat down across from her; Michael sat down at the table next to him. The ensuing silence was deafening - Jeremy had frozen now that they were face to face with their sister for the first time in over six years.

"What are you reading?" Michael asked, scrambling for a neutral topic.

"Third Harry Potter book," she said, holding up the book so they could see the cover.

Jeremy grinned. "That's my favorite Harry Potter book."

"Mine too," she said as she shyly returned the smile.

"I'm Jeremy," he said and then he gestured to Michael. "This is Michael."

"I'm Rachel," she said. "Is your family staying here at the hotel?"

Michael glanced at Jeremy: they had walked right into this - he could only hope that Jeremy had some sort of plan.

"Well, sorta," Jeremy hedged.

Michael sighed. That would be a no on the plan, then.

"What about you?" Jeremy pressed. "Is your family here at the hotel?"

Rachel nodded. "My mom is in the hotel room taking a nap. My dad is at work."

Michael looked at Jeremy, trying not to telegraph his alarm. They had known Paul and Vanessa would be here, but it felt very different knowing for sure that she was in the building and he was somewhere nearby in the city.

Jeremy bit his lower lip and nodded once. "Rachel?" he asked, looking around the hotel lobby before turning to face Rachel. "How much do you remember from when you were a little kid? Like, six years old or younger?"

Michael nudged Jeremy's foot and then raised his eyebrows - this was not where he would have started this conversation.

Rachel wrinkled her nose. "Not much, really. I know I was born in California and I lived in England, but I don't remember any of that."

"And then you lived on Hill Air Force Base in Utah," Jeremy added, tapping his fingertips on the table.

Rachel tilted her head slightly but didn't reply.

"We think-" Michael started.

"We know," Jeremy interrupted. "We know that you're our half-sister. Your name is Rachel Chatlin. Our biological mom is Vanessa Chatlin, née Fordham. Michael and I aren't certain who our father is. We were separated from you after our family moved to Hill Air Force Base."

Rachel blinked twice and looked from Jeremy to Michael.

Michael sighed. "It's true. I know you probably don't remember us, but it's true."

"We're here to rescue you," Jeremy added.

Michael held his breath as Rachel considered them.

"Rescue me from what?" she asked, her fingers restlessly flipping through the pages of her book.

"Paul and Vanessa," Jeremy said before Michael could speak. "We've been looking for you for six and a half years."

Rachel looked from Jeremy to Michael and back again. "I think there may have been a mistake," she said slowly. "I don't have any siblings. And my parents were never divorced or anything."

It hurt more than Michael had expected to hear his little sister say that she didn't have siblings - but it wasn't her fault that she didn't remember them.

Jeremy didn't seem deterred. "We remember you. There's got to be a way we can prove to you that what we're saying is true."

"Genetic testing?" Rachel asked.

"That's a good idea," Michael started.

"-but it's too slow," Jeremy finished quickly. "This is our only chance."

"Rachel!"

Michael felt himself flinch as Rachel leapt to her feet. Before he or Jeremy could do anything, Rachel had grabbed her backpack and hurried across the hotel lobby.

Standing at the hallway entrance was one of Michael and Jeremy's worst nightmares.

* * *

"Let her go!"

Nick automatically turned in the direction of the voice, his eyes meeting Sara's briefly as they both searched for the source. Sara tipped her head in the direction of the front lobby and rested her hand on the grip of her gun.

Pausing a moment to let Gil catch up with them, Nick followed Sara down the hallway, his hand hovering near his holster.

"-leave us alone! I don't know you!"

"You're our mother!"

Gil moved level with Sara, his hand falling away from his holster as he stepped out into the hotel lobby. Nick saw Sara's expression shutter as she stepped to the side before he was able to see the scene in the lobby. A woman was being confronted by two teenaged boys. She had what looked like a painfully tight grip on a little girl's forearm.

"Just you wait until your father hears about this," the woman hissed loudly.

It was impossible to miss the way all three kids flinched at that declaration and Nick winced as the woman pulled sharply on the girl's arm.

Gil strode forward into the lobby, Nick and Sara following only a half step behind.

"Excuse me," Gil called as they approached the small group.

The taller teenage boy immediately backed up a step and put himself between the CSIs and the shorter teenage boy. The shorter boy stayed focused on where the woman was holding the girl.

"I'm Gil Grissom. I work with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. What seems to be the problem here?"

"Thank God," the woman said, glaring briefly at the boys before focusing on Gil. "These boys are harassing me and my daughter. I don't know them. I've never seen them before in my life!"

"She's lying!" the younger boy said loudly. "She's our mother, and Rachel is our sister!"

"She's hurting Rachel," the older boy said, his eyes pleading with them for help.

"Ma'am, would you mind letting go of your daughter's arm?" Gil asked, meeting the woman's eyes. "We're here to help."

Nick silently encouraged the woman to let go of the girl. This was the last situation in which he'd want to draw his gun. Gil and Sara apparently agreed with him because neither of them reached for their guns even as the woman hesitated.

"If you want to arrest someone, arrest them. They tried to kidnap my daughter!" the woman pointed her accusation at the two teenaged boys.

"We didn't!" the younger boy said loudly as he moved around the older boy. "Now let Rachel go - you're hurting her!"

"Ma'am, I'm certain we can sort all of this out quickly, but we need you to let go of Rachel's arm," Nick said, flashing her his best Southern Hospitality smile. "Now, please."

The woman's jaw tightened, but she finally let go of the girl's arm. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're late. Rachel, let's go."

Before anyone could respond, both of the boys moved a few steps back with wide eyes. Nick turned around just in time to watch a man take the last few steps up to them and place his hands around the little girl's shoulders, like she was nothing more than a possession being handed off.

Sara visibly bristled and Gil raised his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, what seems to be the problem here?" the man asked calmly.

"That's what we're sorting out right now," Gil said, his gaze resting on the man's hands.

"Excuse me, sir?" the younger of the boys asked Nick. "You work with the police, right?"

"Yes," Nick said. He leaned down slightly, hoping that would make him look less imposing. "I'm a criminalist."

"I'd like to report a crime," the boy continued, his eyes locked on Nick's.

"Okay," Nick said, his stomach turning as he wondered if he was reading the situation right.

"That man's name is Paul Chatlin. He sexually abused me when I was a kid. The girl he's holding onto is my half sister. I remember him raping her when we were little kids." The boy blinked twice, his eyes watering but no tears fell. "Please, help her."

Nick stood up straight and tried to think past feeling like he'd just been kicked in the gut.

"Sir, we need you to let go of the girl. Now," Gil said firmly.

"This is preposterous," the man said, shaking his head. "I've never even seen these boys before today. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have dinner reservations."

"I don't think so," Sara said, stepping directly into the man's path. "Right now you have a prior engagement at the Las Vegas Police Department. I'm sure you'll find our hospitality most welcoming."

"You can't arrest me," the man protested.

"No, but we can detain you and your wife for questioning," Gil said, tilting his chin up. "If you'd like to contact your lawyer, you can do so from the police station. Now, release the child."

The man clenched his jaw and stared at Gil for a long moment before he let go of the girl.

Sara immediately stepped forward and held out her hand to the girl. The girl only hesitated for a moment before taking Sara's hand and allowing Sara to guide her out of reach of both the man and the woman.

Gil nodded his approval. "Thank you. If you'll both come with me, we can get this matter settled. My teammates will ensure the safety of the children."

"I'm not doing this," the woman protested. "They're lying."

"Vanessa, just go with the officer," the man said, irritation coloring his voice.

"Criminalist," Gil corrected lightly as he motioned for two uniformed officers to join him as he led the small group out of the hotel.

"Wow," the younger boy said. He looked up at Nick. "I wish I'd done that a long time ago."

"What's going to happen to them?" the older boy asked, his eyes flickering between Nick and Sara.

Nick glanced at where the girl was still holding onto Sara's hand and then looked up at Sara. "I don't know," he said after a moment. "But we'll do everything we can do to protect you."

The younger boy shook his head. "Michael and I don't need protecting," he said. "But we need you to help us rescue Rachel."

Sara met Nick's eyes and then looked down at Rachel. "We'll do everything we can," she repeated.

* * *

"Can we call our adoptive mom?" Jeremy asked as Nick ushered them into the interrogation room.

"That might not be a bad idea. Is that okay with both of you?" Nick asked as he pulled the door shut behind himself.

Jeremy nodded enthusiastically as Michael pulled out his phone. "I mean, we're not in trouble, right?"

Nick shook his head. "You're not in trouble." Their biggest problem was going to be how little time they could hold Paul and Vanessa if they weren't able to find evidence of illegal activities.

"Mom," Michael said into his cell phone. "No. We're down at the police station. We found Rachel."

There was a long silence while Michael listened, Jeremy fidgeting impatiently in his chair and then holding out his hand for the phone.

Michael ignored him. "Okay, we'll wait here for you. See you soon." Michael ended the call and put his cell phone back in his pocket. "Our mom - our adoptive mom - is on her way."

"Okay," Nick said, resting his hands on the table. "Technically I can't ask you anything without your legal guardian present, but if there's something you want to tell me before your adoptive mom arrives, that's okay too."

"She already knows," Michael said.

"She knows most of it," Jeremy corrected. "She didn't know that we'd found Rachel. We didn't think she would have let us go to the hotel if she thought Paul and Vanessa would be there. But we had to go! We've been looking for our sister for six years and this was our only chance to rescue her."

Nick nodded, trying not to imagine if he'd been separated from one of his sisters as a kid. "You were separated six years ago?" he asked.

"Almost six and a half," Michael said, glancing at Jeremy and then sighing. "Paul, well, we're not sure if he sold us, or traded us, or if he just wanted to get rid of us. A few weeks after we moved to Utah, Paul took me and Jeremy on a long drive and left us at an apartment here in Vegas."

"We're not sure how long we were kept there," Jeremy added, looking down at the table. "He sexually abused us too, him and his friends, until he left a few days later. We were at the apartment for a few months until the people there disappeared. After that we wound up in foster care, and then Anita adopted us nearly four years ago."

Nick felt the knot in his stomach tighten again. "Paul sexually abused you before he brought you to Vegas?" he asked.

Jeremy nodded, focusing on where he was tracing the edge of the table. "Sometimes he took pictures. He used to have a video camera too. When we were little kids, Rachel and I shared a bed. I think it was because we were close in age and had the same bed time. Anyway, Paul would show up at night sometimes. We could hear his footsteps in the hallway. He was never interested in me at night, just Rachel. All I could do was hold her hand and wait for him to be done."

Nick couldn't hide the pain from his expression any longer. Some cases just hit too close to home.

"There was physical abuse too. From both Paul and Vanessa," Michael added. "With Vanessa it was mostly slapping. Sometimes she'd grab one of us by our arm and then shake or pull. Rachel will probably have a bruise from today."

"She probably has scars from Paul on her back. I still have a few myself. Would it help for you to see them?" Jeremy asked.

"Possibly at some point," Nick said, forcing himself to meet Jeremy's eyes. Scars were exactly the type of physical evidence they were going to need to make a case against Paul and Vanessa, but they were going to have a hell of a time proving that Paul had caused those scars. "Can you remember what he used that caused the scarring?"

"His belt," Michael said quietly. "A few months before we moved to Utah. Paul beat Jeremy, and then Rachel, because Jeremy tried to get help from a teacher. Paul nearly killed them, while I just stood there and watched."

Jeremy shook his head. "You couldn't have done anything. He just would have beat you too."

"Jeremy's right," Nick said as Michael shook his head. "You both did whatever you had to in order to survive - that's the only thing you could have done."

Michael shook his head again. "I just want to know that Rachel is alive and safe."

"She is," Nick said firmly. "She's with Sara, and Sara won't let anything happen to her."

Michael and Jeremy looked at each other and then back to Nick.

"We've been looking for our sister for six years. We'll do whatever it takes to get her to safety. Just tell us what to do," Michael said, his voice breaking. "Please."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Right in here," Sara said, holding open the door to one of the smaller interrogation rooms.

Rachel looked around the room, curiosity overriding whatever fear she might have been feeling. "This is the police station?" she asked, her curls tumbling over her shoulders as she turned to look back at Sara.

"Part of it, yes," Sara said, gently closing the door and wondering if she shouldn't have asked Catherine to do this interview. Catherine knew how to talk to kids. "I do most of my work in the labs downstairs."

"Labs? Like science labs?" Rachel asked.

Sara smiled. Maybe this would go okay after all. "Yes, exactly like science labs. That's my job - solving crimes with science."

"Cool," Rachel said, her eyes wide with interest. "What sort of crimes do you solve?"

"All sorts," Sara said as she sat down at the table. "We solve thefts and robberies. Sometimes murders. We also help people who are being abused."

Rachel immediately looked down and shook her head. "I don't know those two boys. They introduced themselves to me in the hotel lobby a little bit before my mom showed up. I don't know why they said those things."

"Okay," Sara said noncommittally. "Where was your mom then, while the boys were introducing themselves?"

Rachel sat down across from Sara, seeming shorter for a moment before she pulled her legs up so she could kneel on the chair. "Taking a nap in the hotel room. My dad was meeting with some people for work," she explained.

Sara nodded, though something about that bothered her. "Your mom asked you to wait in the lobby while she took a nap in the hotel room?" she asked.

Rachel nodded.

"Does she do that often?" Sara asked, her eyebrows climbing slightly. She couldn't imagine Catherine having Lindsey wait by herself in a hotel lobby anywhere, let alone in west Vegas.

Rachel shrugged. "Not really. She was just tired."

"How does your arm feel?" Sara asked, noticing how Rachel favored her left arm as she leaned against the table.

"Fine," Rachel said, frowning down at her arm briefly. "It only hurt a little, and then she let go."

Sara was more than willing to bet that the reason it only hurt 'a little' was because Rachel was habituated to being abused. "Would you mind if I looked at your arm?"

Rachel bit her lower lip and reluctantly held out her right arm. After a few seconds she pushed up her sleeve to reveal several bruises in several stages of healing, several healing cuts, numerous scars, and a reddened area from where Vanessa had been holding onto her earlier.

"I did the cuts, and the scars," Rachel said, her eyes focused down on the table.

"You cut yourself?" Sara asked. She'd heard of people cutting themselves, even seen scarring and fresh cuts on a few bodies down in autopsy, but she'd never seen it on a child before.

Rachel nodded, still not looking up.

"Is it okay if I take a picture of the area that's red from where your mom was holding your arm?" Sara asked, deciding to leave the subject of self-harm alone for a moment.

"Okay," Rachel said, her voice quiet.

Sara picked up her camera from where she'd left it on her kit earlier and frowned as Rachel automatically recoiled when she pointed the camera in her direction. "Just your arm," she promised.

Rachel nodded and left her arm on the table, her eyes worried as she watched Sara snap a few pictures.

"All done," Sara said, making a show of turning off the camera and putting it back down on her kit. "Does your mom know that you cut yourself?"

"Yes," Rachel said, frowning down at her arm.

"Was she getting you some help?" Sara asked. "Therapy, maybe?" she added when Rachel only seemed confused.

Rachel quickly shook her head. "No, but she said...she said…" Rachel trailed off and looked down at her arm again.

"I'm not going to tell her you said anything," Sara offered, though she wasn't sure that was the problem.

"She said that the next time I cut myself, she'd take me to the emergency room so everyone could see what a freak I am," Rachel said, her gaze fixed on the still healing cuts on her arm.

Sara forced herself to swallow her first response, and then her second as well. "Hey, you are not a freak," she said, somehow managing to keep her voice level.

"I cut myself," Rachel said, peeking up ever so slightly.

"It's probably not the most healthy coping mechanism out there, but it does not make you a freak. Not at all," Sara said firmly. She had probable cause for both physical and emotional abuse from Vanessa. That just left what the younger boy, Jeremy, had said about Paul. "Is it okay if I ask you about your dad?"

Rachel nodded. "He knows I cut myself, but he hasn't really said anything to me about it."

"Okay," Sara said, wondering if the lack of response would be grounds for psychological neglect. "Has he ever hurt you physically?"

Rachel shook her head silently.

"Okay," Sara said again, though she had some doubts about that. "Has your dad ever hurt you sexually?"

"No," Rachel said quickly. "He doesn't hurt me. I think Jeremy and Michael might have me confused for someone else. I've never had siblings. But, they knew my parents' names, and they know I'd lived on Hill Air Force Base. I didn't tell them any of that."

Sara nodded. There was a possibility that this was a case of mistaken identity, but she didn't feel that was very likely. To her it had looked much more like children being reunited with their younger sibling and their abusers. "We may be able to test your DNA and compare it to theirs. That would tell us for sure if you're related."

"Do you have to draw blood?" Rachel asked.

"No." Sara shook her head. "We can do a cheek swab. It won't hurt at all. We just need permission from your mom or dad first."

Rachel shook her head, mirroring Sara. "I don't think they're going to want to do that."

"They may not have a choice. It's likely that we'll ask a judge for a warrant for their DNA. What Jeremy accused Paul of is very serious. We want to make sure that all of you are safe," Sara explained. "Do you feel okay waiting here alone for a few minutes? I just need to check in with my teammates and get the process for getting a warrant for DNA started."

"Okay," Rachel said, sounding a little uncertain. "You'll come back?"

"Yes, I promise," Sara said, meeting Rachel's eyes. "I'll be back within ten minutes."

Rachel hesitated and then nodded once. "Okay."

Sara picked up her camera - unable to miss the way Rachel's body tensed in response. "Ten minutes," she promised again as she rested her hand on the doorknob. She waited until Rachel nodded again before opening the door and stepping into the hallway with a heavy sigh.

"Fucking hell," Catherine said loudly from across the hall as she pulled the door to one of the other interrogation rooms shut. "It's like talking to a revolving door. She tells so many lies she can't even keep them straight for a twenty minute conversation. How is it on your end?"

"She's denying the sexual abuse and the physical abuse from Paul, and she flinches every time she sees a camera," Sara said grimly.

Catherine nodded. "One of the boys told Nick that Paul would take pornographic pictures and video of them. We're including any cameras and computers in the hotel room in the warrant. Do we have enough to charge Vanessa?"

Sara couldn't hide her pained expression. "We have enough to call CPS. I doubt we're going to be able to get child abuse charges to stick from a few bruises though."

"Well, if we can get CPS to take her into custody, that would give us a few days to build a case. If we find child pornography in the hotel room, that will take Paul out of the picture," Catherine pointed out.

"Just to leave her with another abuser? We watched this woman drag Rachel around by her arm. She's got bruises in at least three stages of healing, and Vanessa called her a freak because she cuts herself as a way to deal with being abused," Sara said, struggling to keep her tone even.

Catherine pressed her lips flat. "Alright, I'll call CPS and also get the process started for warrants for DNA and for the contents of the hotel room. We may be able to get Vanessa on child abuse charges for Jeremy and Michael if the DNA pans out."

"Okay. If Rachel has a bag at the hotel, would you mind having someone bring it back? That way Rachel has a few changes of her own clothes," Sara said, focusing on Catherine's answering nod. "I'll be in with Rachel, if someone could let me know when a social worker shows up?"

"Will do," Catherine said, frowning at her watch before heading down the hall with purposeful strides.

* * *

Sara sighed and leaned against the wall. This case was quickly becoming a living nightmare and it seemed like it was only going to get worse before it got better.

Nick identified Michael and Jeremy's adoptive mom as soon as she rounded the corner into the hallway. There was something universal about the expression of a panicked parent, something Nick remembered well from his own parents.

"I'm looking for Michael and Jeremy Chatlin," she called to Nick, her eyes half frantic as she checked the doorways she was passing. "My name is Anita Robles. I'm their adoptive mother."

Nick held out his hand. "I'm Nick Stokes. Michael and Jeremy are with me," he said, nodding to the interrogation room where he'd been talking with the boys.

"Oh, thank God," Anita said, though the relief didn't quite reach her eyes. "Are they alright?"

"They're safe," Nick said - he wasn't sure that 'alright' was an accurate descriptor considering they'd just been face to face with two people who had abused them.

Anita nodded, her expression pained. "Is it true? They found Rachel? Alive?"

"We believe so. We'd actually like to compare DNA samples to be certain," Nick explained.

"That seems like it would be for the best," Anita agreed. "I never imagined that they would actually find her alive. Given what they survived, I never thought they would find her alive."

Nick frowned. Nothing he had heard so far had sounded like it was beyond the likelihood of survival.

"May I see them?" Anita asked.

"Yes, of course," Nick said, reaching for the door handle while wondering what he was missing.

"Mom!" Jeremy lept up and hurried to her side, stopping short of embracing her.

"Mom," Michael echoed, getting to his feet and moving so that he was standing next to his adoptive mom.

"What happened?" she asked, clearly restraining herself from hugging her kids. "How did you find her?"

Jeremy glanced over to Nick sheepishly. "That's something we should probably tell Nick too. We didn't exactly break the law, but we may have bent it a little in a few places," he explained. "For a good cause."

Nick raised an eyebrow but couldn't stop the smile that flitted across his face. "Why don't we get your DNA samples processing and then you can tell us how you found Rachel?"

"Do you have to draw blood?" Jeremy asked, fiddling with the end of his shirtsleeve.

"Nope," Nick said, reaching for where he'd set his kit next to the table. "Just a cheek swab. You can do it yourself if you'd prefer."

Jeremy immediately nodded and went to Nick's side to peer into the kit. "Is that fingerprint powder?"

"It is," Nick said, taking the jar out so Jeremy could see better. "And this is the brush we use to dust for prints."

"Cool," Jeremy said, taking the brush from Nick and pushing it along the edge of the table.

"Here we go," Nick said as he finished labeling one of the swabs. He handed it to Michael. "Just rub the fuzzy end on the inside of your cheek. That will collect enough DNA for us to analyze and we'll compare it to Rachel's DNA."

Michael considered the swab for a few seconds before he did as Nick instructed. "I don't think that Paul or Vanessa are going to let you check Rachel's DNA. Vanessa was denying that she's our mother," he said as he passed the swab back to Nick.

Jeremy frowned down at the swab Nick had given him. "Do you believe us? About what we said about Paul and Vanessa?"

"I do," Nick said, meeting Jeremy's and then Michael's gaze. "I do believe you."

Jeremy and Michael looked at each other, Michael uncertain and Jeremy worried.

"I don't think our social worker believed us," Jeremy said after a moment. "We told her where to find Rachel. We told her about Paul and Vanessa. But she didn't do anything."

"She told us she couldn't find Rachel, and we figured that Paul and Vanessa had moved when Paul got rid of us," Michael added.

Nick felt his face mirror Anita's wince at the idea that children were something that could be gotten rid of.

"They were still in Utah, less than five miles away from Hill Air Force Base," Jeremy said, and then stuck the cheek swab in his mouth.

"Jeremy's friend Mikey had the idea to look for Vanessa online, on Facebook," Michael explained. "He said your cheek - don't chew on it."

Jeremy yanked the swab from his mouth and considered it before sheepishly holding it out to Nick. "Sorry."

"That's alright, just means we've got plenty of DNA to compare," Nick said, taking the swap and capping it. "Give me a moment to hand these off to a lab tech."

"Mom?" Jeremy asked. The door fell shut behind Nick before he could hear what Jeremy had been about to ask.

"Greggo," Nick called, catching a glimpse of ruffled hair from down the hallway.

Greg stumbled back a few steps into view. "Sorry, I've got a priority analysis from Gil," he said, waving an evidence bag containing two swaps.

"Chatlin case?" Nick asked hopefully.

"Yep. I take it you've got my comparisons?" Greg asked.

"Two of them. Last I checked, Sara had the girl," Nick said, handing over his swabs.

Greg nodded. "Brass came back with the warrant. Catherine and Warrick are heading to check out the hotel room. Sofia is still working on Vanessa, Gil and Brass just went back in with Paul," Greg said as he examined the swab casings. "I'll drop by Sara and see if she's got a swab ready from the girl."

"Thanks," Nick said. "Tell Cath and Warrick to be careful out there, if you see them before they head out."

"Will do," Greg said, giving an awkward wave before he turned and went back down the hallway.

Nick took a steadying breath and went back inside the interrogation room.

"-we need to find out what's happening first," Anita finished saying.

"What if-" Jeremy broke off and turned to Nick. "What if they say that Rachel has to go with Paul and Vanessa?"

"We're going to do what we can to prevent that from happening," Nick said, wishing he could promise more. "Why don't you go ahead and tell me how you found Rachel?"

"I'd like to hear about that too," Anita added.

Jeremy sighed. "Mikey - a friend of mine - had the idea to look for Vanessa on Facebook, because his mom is on Facebook all the time. We'd been looking using Rachel's name, but we hadn't found anything," he explained.

"Vanessa has a Facebook account. Mikey helped us make a fake account so we could friend her and see her activity without her recognizing us," Michael added, looking uncomfortable. "We made a profile for a military wife with two kids, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base. Vanessa accepted our friend request without even messaging us."

"When was this?" Anita asked, not sounding particularly scandalized.

"About six months ago," Michael said, glancing at Nick. "We talked about going to the police, but we kinda figured there wouldn't be anything they could do given that Vanessa was still in Utah."

'And you didn't think that the police would believe you,' Nick added silently.

"Last week Vanessa posted that she was taking a trip to Vegas. We figured it was very likely that Paul and Rachel would be going on this trip. So we started calling hotels, pretending to be Paul, and asking to confirm details about the reservation." Jeremy was flushed slightly as he glanced at Anita.

"We found the reservation on like the eighth call, I think," Michael said. "We watched Vanessa's Facebook page all this week, trying to find a time when we could meet with Rachel without Paul or Vanessa seeing us. We had hoped that Rachel would remember us, but she was too young when we were taken, I guess.

"So we skipped school today and hid out in the hotel lobby until we saw Rachel," Jeremy finished, placing his hands flat on the table. "Thank you for helping us. We didn't really have a plan beyond getting Rachel away from them."

Michael nodded. "Yes, thank you. I don't really want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't stopped them."

"It's our job," Nick said, thinking of all the times these kids had needed help and no one had been there for them. Even now he couldn't guarantee the safety of their little sister.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"118?" Warrick asked, coming to a stop in front of a hotel room door.

"That's it," Catherine said, checking the room number plate against the warrant. "Let's open it up."

Warrick slid the master key into the door and nodded to himself when the door clicked open in response. The manager of the hotel had given them the master key in the parking lot and had then asked them to move their vehicles to the side of the building. Something about ongoing crime investigations being bad for business.

"Do you want the beds or the bathroom?" Catherine asked, looking around the small hotel room. The room only had one bed, haphazardly made, and it took her a moment to locate the second bed that was tucked inside the couch.

"I'll take the beds," Warrick said, setting his kit out on the desk.

"I'll start with the bathroom," Catherine replied, making her way across the hotel room. If she had to guess, she'd say that Warrick had volunteered to take the beds to prevent her from being the one to discover evidence of a father raping his daughter, particularly since the child in question was almost the same age as Lindsey. While she appreciated the consideration - cases involving kids being hurt did always make her worry about Lindsey - Catherine wondered more about how Nick was managing.

As far as she knew, Nick had never told anyone else about the abuse he'd experienced. Hell, he'd barely managed to tell her anything other than the fact that it had happened. At least he was safe back at the station and they had kept him and Sara away from Paul and Vanessa.

"Shit," Catherine said to herself as she looked in the bathroom trashcan. She sighed as she took pictures, not welcoming the memory of Sara telling her that Rachel flinched at the sight of a camera.

"What've you got?" Warrick called from the bedroom.

"Used condom," Catherine said as she bagged it. "Bloody."

"Probably matches the blood streaks on these sheets. There's no trace of semen here, but there is on the sheets from the sofa bed," Warrick replied, holding up the sheet he was bagging. "I'll check the suitcases for underwear or pajamas."

Catherine shook her head as she walked to the small duffel bag that was on the coffee table. "I've got it," she said.

Warrick nodded and kept folding and tagging sheets. "How old is this kid?" he asked.

"Twelve," she answered as she started looking through the clothes in the duffel. "Young enough that if we can prove rape, Paul is looking at life in prison."

"It's not enough," Warrick said as he shook his head. "For some things, there isn't punishment enough."

Catherine grimaced as she bagged a small pair of underwear. Considering that the girl in question likely wasn't old enough to get her period and the bloodstains in the underwear were probably the result of sexual abuse, she couldn't agree with Warrick more.

"Goddamn it," Warrick said as he set something down with a thunk.

"What?" Catherine asked, setting down her bagged evidence and joining Warrick at the desk.

Warrick placed his hand over the handheld camera before Catherine could reach for it. "Don't," he said, looking sick to his stomach. "It's not Paul, but I'm guessing that Paul is the cameraman. We'll probably get the DNA contribution from the condom."

"At the very least we've got him for the possession of child pornography," Catherine said, fighting the urge to call Lindsey to make sure she was at home and okay.

"That's something at least. Let's get these back to the lab. Maybe we'll already have the other perp identified in CODIS," Warrick said.

"Maybe," Catherine agreed. If there was anything she'd learned from this job it was that there would always be another perp to catch. Always.

* * *

"That's it?" Rachel asked as she passed the DNA swab back to Sara.

"That's it," Sara said, pausing to label the side of the swab with Rachel's name. "Now I give this swab to my best friend Greg, and he has a machine that will help him compare your DNA to Jeremy and Michael's DNA."

"And if they have some of the same DNA as I do, that means we're siblings?" Rachel asked.

"Well, depending on how much of the DNA matches, it could mean that you're full siblings, half siblings, or possibly even cousins," Sara explained.

Rachel nodded thoughtfully, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Sara reached for her cellphone as it vibrated to let her know she had a message. 'Social worker is waiting in the hall. Greg is ready for a DNA sample when you have it,' the text from Gil read.

"I'm going to give this swab to Greg so he can process it," Sara said as she stood up.

"You'll be back?" Rachel asked.

Sara paused. "There's a social worker here who would like to speak with you, but I can be here for that conversation, if you'd prefer?"

Rachel shifted uncomfortably. "You've probably got important things to do," she offered quietly.

"Nope," Sara said, shaking her head. "My most important job tonight is staying here with you."

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked.

"Positive," Sara said firmly. "I'll be right back, I promise."

Sara waited until Rachel nodded before she left the room, nearly walking directly into Gil in the process.

"Rachel's DNA," Sara said, handing Gil the swab.

"Social worker," Gil said, gesturing to the woman who had stood up when Sara had stepped into the hallway.

"Danea Smith," the social worker said, offering Sara her hand.

"Sara Sidle," Sara replied, shaking her hand briefly.

"Gil was just letting me know that you're looking at pressing charges on both parents?" Danea asked.

Sara looked at Gil, not certain what the rest of the team had found.

"What we saw at the hotel lobby is sufficient to charge Vanessa with physical abuse, particularly since she left marks that will form into bruises," Gil said, nodding to Sara. "I just got a text from Warrick letting me know that we have enough to charge Paul with possession of child pornography, at a minimum. The DNA samples they recovered will let us know if we're charging him with rape or sexual abuse in addition to the child pornography charge."

"Damn it," Sara said, her hands balling into fists on autopilot. She hadn't believed Rachel when Rachel had said Paul hadn't sexual abused her, but she had hoped.

"Michael and Jeremy's adoptive mother would like to foster Rachel, if she is indeed their sister," Gil added, holding up the swab Sara had given him. "We should know for certain within an hour."

Danea nodded. "I'd like to talk with Rachel first. It will take at least that long to get her paperwork finished, and I won't place her with them if she's adverse to the idea."

Sara decided that this social worker was at least provisionally okay - better than some social workers she'd worked with, at least.

"Sara, would you mind checking in with Nick?" Gil asked.

"Sorry, no can do." Sara said with a shrug. "I promised Rachel I'd be right back and that I'd stay with her while the social worker spoke with her," she added at Gil's raised eyebrows.

"Okay, I'll check on Nick on my way to give Greg the DNA swab," Gil said. "And I'll leave this situation in your capable hands."

Sara gave Gil a look that she hoped communicated exactly how capable she was and watched as he rounded the corner back toward the rest of the lab.

"How communicative would you say Rachel is?" Danea asked as Sara reached for the door handle.

"In general she does okay. She wasn't particularly forthcoming about Paul and point blank denied being physically and sexually abused," Sara said. "Another thing you should know is that Rachel cuts herself, and that Vanessa has called her a freak because of it on at least one occasion."

Danea winced slightly. "Okay, good to know. Just so you're aware, I'm going to ask her if she's comfortable with you being there while I interview her."

Sara nodded. "I'm fine with whatever Rachel is comfortable with - I just promised her that I'd be back." 'And I keep my promises,' Sara added silently. She opened the door and gave her best reassuring smile to Rachel.

"Hello Rachel. My name is Danea Smith. I work with the Las Vegas County Department of Child and Family Services. Do you feel comfortable speaking with me with Sara in the room?" Danea asked, pausing in the doorway.

Rachel immediately looked to Sara. "I'd prefer Sara here, if that's okay with Sara?"

"That's fine," Sara said. She set a seat aside for Danea and sat back down.

Danea closed the door behind her and went to the chair Sara had provided. She dug into her bag and pulled out a folder. "I have a form here that I ask kids to fill out for me; that way I know a little bit about you. You can leave anything you don't know the answer to or don't want to answer blank," Danea explained as she passed Rachel a sheet of paper and a pen.

Rachel frowned down at the form and then looked to Sara. "What's happening to my parents?"

"Right now they're involved with some legal proceedings," Sara explained, deciding to leave what they were being charged with out for the time being. "You'll be in foster care for at least a little bit while they take care of some legal concerns."

"Do you have any family that you know of in the area? Aunts or uncles maybe?" Danea asked.

Rachel shook her head. "All of my mom's family is in England. My dad has quite a few brothers and sisters, but I've only met two of them, and they live in Connecticut." She picked up the pen and started writing on the form. "What does this mean?"

Sara leaned forward to see what Rachel was pointing at. "Maiden name? That's the last name your mom had before she married your dad."

"So her parents' last name?" Rachel asked.

"Usually," Sara said with a nod.

Rachel bobbed her head and started writing again. "Are they in trouble because of what Jeremy and Michael said at the hotel?" she asked, glancing at Danea but focusing her attention on Sara.

"Not exactly," Sara said, wishing she knew for certain what Catherine and Warrick had found at the hotel. "Right now the charges aren't finalized. That means they don't know for sure yet what the charges are going to be. It depends on what evidence we're able to find."

"Tomorrow we'd like you to have an exam at the Las Vegas County Children's Hospital," Danea said. "That will let us know that you're healthy, and it might help provide evidence for the courts."

"What sort of exam?" Rachel asked, her shoulders visibly tensing.

"A physical, and probably a blood test as well. I know going to the doctor can be scary, but I'll be there the entire time," Danea said, probably trying to sound reassuring.

"I can go with you if you want," Sara offered, noticing how worried Rachel looked. Given that Gil had mentioned they had recovered DNA samples, that probably meant they were going to need a rape kit completed, as well as a physical exam.

Rachel nodded to Sara. "Yes, please," she said quietly. She finished filling out the form Danea had given her.

"Thank you," Danea said, scanning over the form Rachel had pushed back across the table.

"The section on siblings might not be right," Rachel said as she pushed the pen back to Danea.

Danea nodded. "I heard about that. You don't remember having siblings?"

Rachel shook her head. "If they're related to you, would you feel comfortable being fostered with them?" Danea asked.

"I guess. What happens after that though? Would they live with me and Paul and Vanessa?" Rachel asked.

"No, I don't think so," Sara said quickly. "They'd likely stay with their adoptive mother."

"Even if we're siblings?" Rachel asked.

"That depends on a few things," Danea said, rearranging some pages inside a folder. "One of the things we're concerned about is the safety of any children who would be living with Paul and Vanessa."

"You're worried about Paul or Vanessa hurting us?" Rachel asked, tipping her head to one side.

"Yes," Danea replied. "I was told that Vanessa held on to your arm pretty hard today. May I see where she was holding you?"

Rachel glanced at Sara uncertainly.

"I can show her the pictures I took if you'd prefer," Sara offered, wishing she could send the social worker away.

"It's okay," Rachel said. "I cut myself. Vanessa didn't do that."

"Okay," Danea said, her expression smooth. "Thank you for telling me that."

Rachel nodded once and rolled up her sleeve again.

Sitting closer, Sara could now see where older, thinner scars lined Rachel's arms beneath the bruising and new wounds.

"Are the bruises from where Vanessa held your arm?" Danea asked.

"I think so," Rachel said with a worried glance to Sara. "I bruise easily."

"Why is that?" Danea asked.

Rachel shrugged and shook her head.

"Did Vanessa or Paul tell you that?" Sara clarified grimly.

"Vanessa," Rachel said quietly.

Danea exchanged unhappy glances with Sara.

* * *

Everyone in the interrogation room startled at the knock on the door.

Jeremy looked at Nick. "They wouldn't just let Paul and Vanessa wander around, right?" he asked, his wide eyes giving away how scared he was.

"Absolutely not," Nick set, mentally urging his heart rate to slow back down. Gil had already dropped by to let him know they were planning on pressing charges against both Paul and Vanessa and that they'd called child protective services. "It's likely one of my teammates with an update on the case."

"Mom, you're going to talk to the social worker?" Jeremy asked.

"When I have the opportunity, yes," Anita said, not for the first time.

Nick opened the door and blinked when he found Greg standing in the doorway with a sheaf of papers.

"Your priority DNA results?" Greg asked, raising his eyebrows. "Catherine and Warrick are still at the hotel and Gil is in with Brass and Sofia, so you're up first."

"Come on in," Nick said, opening the door further. "This is my teammate Greg. Greg, this is Anita, Jeremy, and Michael."

"Hello," Greg said, waving with his free hand. "You have fascinating DNA. Well, individually your DNA isn't any more remarkable than any other individual's DNA, but as a group your DNA is relatively unique."

"Does that mean that Rachel is or isn't our sister?" Michael asked.

"A more accurate question would be to what degree you're related to Rachel, and I can almost entirely answer that question," Greg said as he started to spread his papers out over the table. "Okay, so here is Jeremy's DNA profile and Michael's DNA profile. You can see that you both have the same parents by the pairs of alleles that you have in common. Furthermore, when we compare your DNA to Paul, you'll see that you each inherited 13 alleles from him." Jeremy stood up abruptly from where he'd been leaning over the test results. "But...Paul's our father? How is that…? ...I thought?"

"Vanessa isn't our biological mother?" Michael asked, looking closely at the paper Greg had placed next to Paul's DNA profile.

"No, she's not," Greg said. "But, do you know if Vanessa has any sisters?"

"No idea, why?" Jeremy asked.

"Because Vanessa's our aunt," Michael said, handing Jeremy the DNA profile.

"Got it in one," Greg said, smiling brightly at Michael. "Which makes Rachel both your half-sister and your cousin.

"Well that's more fucked up than I'd previously imagined," Jeremy said as he set the DNA results back down on the table.

Nick silently agreed. How a parent could sexually abuse any child was beyond him. How a parent could sexually abuse their own child - Nick couldn't even begin to fathom.

Greg nodded. "Fucked up, but genetically very interesting. I'd like to get a DNA profile of your biological mother at some point - for completions sake. I don't suppose you'd have any idea where to find her?" "Probably still in England," Michael said, still frowning down at the DNA results. "I remember that there was another woman around sometimes. She stopped Vanessa from killing Rachel once."

"What was Vanessa doing?" Nick asked.

"Washing Rachel's hair," Michael said flatly. "She hadn't done it well enough herself, so Vanessa was holding her head under the water in the bathtub. Rachel was around three years old at the time."

"Holy fuck," Greg said quietly, his eyes wide.

"We have to get her away from them," Jeremy said, looking from Nick to Anita. "You're still going to foster Rachel, right? Even though we aren't full siblings?"

"It doesn't matter to me what your genetic relationship to Rachel is. She's your sister. I'll foster her if I'm allowed to do so," Anita said, sounding unshaken.

"That means we have to convince the social worker," Jeremy said. "It's not the same social worker we had, is it? Can we press charges against that social worker for not finding Rachel? I don't think she even tried."

Nick glanced at Greg. "Well, we can certain check to make sure this isn't the same social worker you had. As for pressing charges, at the very least we can open an investigation and subpoena the records for when she looked for Rachel," Nick offered.

Michael nodded. "Rachel suffered needlessly for six years when social services could have found her living on the same military base we told them about. And who knows how many other kids Paul has hurt in the last six years."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Rachel startled at the sound of a knock on the door, balancing precariously for a moment on the edge of her chair before sitting flat.

Sara resisted the urge to check her gun in her holster as she made her way to the door.

"DNA profile results," Greg said, holding up a handful of papers as soon as Sara opened the door.

"That was fast," Sara remarked, reaching for the papers and raising her eyebrows when Greg pulled them away.

"These require an explanation," Greg said, nodding as he looked down at the results.

Sara took a step back and motioned him into the room. "Rachel, Danea, this is Greg, our DNA specialist."

"Your best friend?" Rachel asked.

Greg looked to Sara, his surprise obvious. "Really?"

Sara nodded. "Unless you know someone else on our team named Greg?"

"Just me," he said, smiling warmly at Sara. "I have DNA results, if you're ready?"

Rachel bobbed her head and Danea smiled and nodded once.

Greg sat down next to Rachel and set a piece of paper on the table in front of her. "This is you," he said, running his finger along the bottom of the DNA profile. "And these are your parents," he added, setting two more papers down.

Sara moved so that she could see over Rachel's shoulder. "Paul and Vanessa are your biological parents," she said, nodded to where Greg was pointing out sections of alleles that had been donated.

"And here is where things get a little interesting," Greg said as he set down two more DNA profiles.

Rachel tipped her head and leaned down so she could see better. "We're three-quarters siblings?" she asked after a moment, twisting around to look up at Sara.

"Well, technically, yes," Sara said, her eyebrows climbing as she reached the same conclusion.

"How is that possible?" Danea asked.

"Paul is Jeremy and Michael's biological father," Greg explained, tapping Paul's DNA profile. "Vanessa is Jeremy and Michael's aunt. How many sisters does Vanessa have?"

"Two, but…" Rachel trailed off and looked back at the sheets of paper. "Caroline."

"Caroline?" Greg asked, looking to Sara.

"Maybe," Rachel said uncertainly. "She's Vanessa's middle sister, but I've only met her twice. She doesn't get along well with the rest of the family. Maybe this is why?"

"Possibly," Sara agreed. That seemed as good of a reason for family estrangement as any she'd heard.

"Rachel, do you feel comfortable being fostered with your three-quarters siblings, at least for the next few days?" Danea asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I guess so. What's going to happen to Vanessa and Paul?" she asked.

"They're going to stay here at the police station tonight," Sara said, watching Greg's expression darken. "We'll know more about what's going to happen tomorrow or the next day, once the charges are finalized."

Danea stood up. "I'd like to speak with Jeremy and Michael's adoptive mother for a few minutes. Are you okay to wait here?" she asked.

Rachel nodded and went back to looking at the DNA profiles.

"They're just down the hall. I can show you where," Greg said as he stood up.

"Sara?" Rachel asked, once Danea and Greg had left the room.

"Yeah?" Sara asked, sitting down next to Rachel with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Rachel paused, watching Sara for a long moment before shaking her head. "Nevermind. It's okay."

Sara swallowed hard and cast around for the courage to answer Rachel's unasked question.

* * *

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Sara asked, adjusting the strap on Rachel's duffel bag so that it hung more evenly over her shoulder. "And you have my phone number - both my cell phone and my number here at work, if you want to talk with me before tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay," Rachel said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sara nodded. "Yes. You will."

"Bye Nick," Jeremy said, waving.

Nick nodded. "You both have my number if you have any questions, right?"

Michael nodded and Jeremy patted his pocket. "You'll let us know if something happens, like if Paul or Vanessa are released?" Michael asked.

"We will," Nick said, moving back so he was standing even with Sara and Greg.

"Okay, bye," Michael said, not looking less worried as he rounded up Jeremy and Rachel and guided them over to where Anita and Danea were waiting by the exit.

"Bye," said Nick, mostly to himself.

Greg sighed and folded his arms. "Well, Catherine and Warrick brought back some DNA samples for me to identify. I'm going to go get started."

"You should probably wait for a few minutes, I think Gil and Catherine want to go over where the case currently stands," Nick said, finally forcing himself to look away from the now empty doorway.

"In my office," Gil called as he stepped out into the hallway.

Nick grimaced and followed Gil back down the hallway. The last thing he felt like doing right now was being in close quarters with his team. Sitting with Jeremy and Michael while they recounted the abuse they'd witnessed and experienced had set him on edge - particularly since he couldn't guarantee that their abusers were going to be charged. He couldn't even promise them that their little sister would be protected from the man who had been sexually abusing them.

"What've we got?" Gil asked as the team filed into his office.

Warrick looked up from where he was entering evidence into the log. "At a minimum we have Paul on possession of child pornography. We left his laptop with Archie, but the video camera is ready to go," he said, nodding to the camera that was sitting inside an evidence bag on Gil's desk.

Nick sat down next to Warrick with a sigh. "Jeremy says he has scars on his back from being beaten with Paul's belt. They say that Rachel has the same scars from when they were little kids. We might be able to match a belt to the scars," he said, unable to draw his gaze away from the camera.

"We found a bloody condom in the bathroom trash, blood on one set of sheets, semen and blood traces on the other set of sheets, and blood spotting on a pair of Rachel's underwear," Catherine recounted. "From the camera, at least one semen contribution is not Paul's."

"Shit," Sara said, pacing from one end of Gil's office to the other. "I have pictures of Rachel's arm. She's got three different stages of bruising, but it's not going to be enough. Even what we saw in the hotel lobby isn't going to be enough to press charges. If we don't get something on her, Vanessa is going to walk out of here with Rachel in seventy-two hours."

"What we saw is plenty to press charges for abuse," Gil said, frowning at where Sara was standing. "Plus we'll have whatever the forensic exam recovers tomorrow."

"Jeremy and Michael both report being abused by Vanessa and witnessing her abuse Rachel. There's no way social services is just going to release Rachel to Vanessa without some sort of investigation into Rachel's wellbeing," Greg added.

Sara shook her head and paused before turning to face the room. "I need to tell you something. I was placed in foster care when I was thirteen, after my mother murdered my father. She stabbed him to death after she walked in on him raping me. She was acquitted, but she committed suicide shortly after she was released."

Nick felt his eyes fill with tears and he quickly looked down.

"Sara…" Greg trailed off, looking from Sara to Gil for guidance.

"It seemed relevant," Sara added quietly as she looked around the room.

"I had no idea," Catherine said, her voice slightly choked.

Sara nodded. "I didn't want anyone to know. You asked once why I went berserk during cases that involve domestic violence. That would be why," she said directly to Catherine.

Warrick shook his head. "Damn. I'm sorry, Sara. Is there anything we can do to help support you during cases like this?" he asked.

Sara smiled and shook her head. "I'm alright. Though it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to keep me away from Paul and Vanessa."

Nick exhaled and glanced around the room. He could do this. If Sara could tell them something like that, then he could do this. "While we're on the subject," he said, and then made the mistake of looking around.

Gil's expression was frozen in horror, while Sara's eyes were locked on Nick's in a mixture of pain and compassion.

Nick managed to look away, his chest squeezing painfully tight. "I was nine the first time," he said, losing the rest of the words. "She was a last minute babysitter. I didn't tell anyone while it was happening. Actually, I didn't tell anyone until a case four years ago," he admitted, looking up at Catherine.

Catherine nodded silently, her face a mirror of the pain in the room.

"Same question Warrick asked Sara: what can we do to support you with cases like this?" Greg asked.

Nick shrugged and shook his head. "Keeping me away from Paul and Vanessa would probably be a good idea. Other than that, just doing what we can to protect the kids," he said, gratified at Warrick and Greg's answering nods.

"Archie is working on Paul's laptop, but I strongly suspect we're looking at life in prison for Paul based on the results of the DNA analysis," Warrick said, meeting Nick's eyes.

"I'll get started on that analysis as soon as we're done here. That way we know where we stand at least on Paul," Greg said, gesturing to the small stack of evidence bags on the table in front of Catherine.

Gil stood up. "I'm going to fill Ecklie in on the details of the case so he and Brass can brief the DA on the pending charges for Paul and Vanessa. The more airtight this case, the better," he said, looking over his team.

Catherine nodded. "I'll check in on Archie and find out if he needs anything else to process the hard drive."

"Alright," Gil agreed. "Sara and Nick, let me know if you need any assistance with the rest of the interviews you've done."

Sara shook her head. "If we get anything from Rachel it will be from the forensic exam tomorrow. She outright denied that Paul is abusing her."

"Jeremy and Michael both described multiple incidents of abuse from Paul and Vanessa. They also asked if we'd look into their social worker from six years ago who purportedly knew where Rachel was and that she was being abused, and didn't do anything about it," Nick said, feeling strangely relieved that the topic was back to the kids again.

Warrick stood up. "I'll request the files regarding Jeremy and Michael from six years ago. Whatever investigation they did regarding Rachel should be included."

Gil and Catherine noddded. "Alright, let's get started. We need to work quickly and carefully on this one. I'll be with Ecklie and Brass if anyone needs me," Gil repeated, looking around the office one last time before he left the room. Catherine, Warrick, and Greg followed him out into the lab moments later, leaving Nick and Sara alone.

"Sorry," Sara said quietly. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

Nick shook his head. "You didn't. I made a choice to tell the team. Didn't seem like there was going to be a better time." He shrugged as Sara sat down. "I hope you don't mind that I jumped on the proverbial bandwagon there?"

"Not at all," Sara said. "I just wish that hadn't happened to you. I wish it hadn't happened to any of us."

"Me too," Nick nodded.

"I just wanted people to know in advance, so if I started acting weird on this case," she explained.

Nick looked down as he considered some of the past cases he'd seen Sara react to: rape, domestic violence, and child abuse. He wondered if his teammates had noticed a similar list regarding his own reactions, particularly with cases involving kids.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Sara continued, shaking her head. "I can't let Vanessa get custody of Rachel again. I can't let her go back to that."

"I don't think we'll have to," Nick said. "What we saw at the hotel lobby is more than enough to prompt a social services investigation. Add to that eye witness reports from Jeremy and Michael and then whatever physical evidence that is collected tomorrow at the Children's Hospital."

"Balance of probability suggests that evidence is more likely to implicated Paul than Vanessa," Sara reasoned. "The developing bruises on Rachel's arm we might be able to use as evidence against Vanessa, but even a first year law student would be able to cast reasonable doubt about the cause of those bruises."

"Worst comes to worst, the matter of Rachel's custody gets settled in family court," Nick said.

"Where they'll ask her if she's being abused by Vanessa, and she'll say no," Sara quickly pointed out.

"Where we'll testify about what we've seen and what the evidence points to. And even if Rachel isn't ready to testify against Vanessa, Jeremy and Michael are. Michael just finished telling me and Greg about how Vanessa nearly drown Rachel while washing Rachel's hair. Rachel was all of three at the time," Nick said, wincing as he remembered Michael's pained expression while he'd recounted the memory.

Sara exhaled heavily. "You don't have to try to get me to hate Vanessa more than I already do."

Nick shook his head. "Wasn't trying to get you to hate her more. I just want you to know that Jeremy and Michael are prepared to talk about the abuse they've experienced and witnessed, especially if it means keeping Rachel safe."

"Okay," Sara said. Her gaze settled on the camera Catherine and Warrick had recovered from the hotel room. "That bastard had better spend the rest of his life behind bars. If it wasn't already so late in the evening I would have suggested that we go straight to the hospital for a forensics exam."

"I think they probably needed a break first. Today was trauma enough without putting her through a rape kit tonight," Nick said, reaching hesitantly to place his hand on Sara's knee. "If we don't have the act on camera, the DNA from the hotel room should be plenty to secure a conviction."

Sara sighed and put her hand down over Nick's. "I'm going to check on Greg in the DNA lab and see where we stand."

"Okay," Nick said, gently turning his hand to give Sara's hand what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze. "I'll see what I can help Warrick with and then check in on Archie. Hopefully between the two of us we'll be ready to file charges against Paul tonight."

Sara nodded. "Maybe we'll get lucky and there will be more evidence against Vanessa than we're expecting," she said, squeezing Nick's hand in return.

"Maybe," Nick echoed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Sara exhaled deeply before walking into the DNA lab, aiming to keep her footfalls casual.

"Hey," Greg said, looking up from his equipment immediately.

"Hey," Sara replied, looking hopefully from machine to machine for results.

"I don't have anything just yet," Greg said. "I've got a blood spots, vaginal discharge, and seminal fluid from the sofa bed processing first, since I figured that was the most likely combo to provide results we can prosecute from."

"Good plan," Sara said, giving Greg a full nod of approval.

"I actually re-ran Jeremy and Michael's DNA earlier today," Greg said as he took a vial off the centrifuge.

Sara nodded. "I can understand why. The results are pretty weird without cross contamination being a factor."

"Exactly!" Greg nodded for emphasis. "Sara…"

"Yes, Greg?" Sara asked, bracing herself for the inevitable questions that would follow her and Nick's impromptu life history exposure.

"Did you really mean what you said?" Greg asked. "That I'm your best friend?"

Sara felt her chest relax. "Yes, I really meant that. You've been my best friend for a long time, Greg."

Greg put down the pipettes he'd been using. "You're my best friend too. Which is why I feel like I should have already known what you told us today. Not that you should have told us before now, but that I should have put together the clues, read the signs, or something. Some field investigator I am."

"You're a good friend, Greg, and friends don't investigate each other," Sara said. "Not unless there's no other option."

Greg twisted his lips unhappily. "There were situations, cases, that I should have done more to defend you. Situations where, under the circumstances, your response was reasonable."

Sara shook her head. "That's exactly what I don't want, and Nick either. We don't want people acting like we're fragile or like special exceptions should be made for us. We work well as a team precisely because we call each other on our crap. One of the reasons I told the team today was because at least some of us need to remain objective during this case, and it's not likely to be me. Or Nick, honestly."

"Did you know about Nick?" Greg asked.

"No. Did you?" Sara asked.

"No, I had no idea, but same thing. I feel like I should have put together some of his reactions to cases and reached that conclusion on my own. I just never expected that any of us would have experienced something like that. If anyone, I kind of thought that Catherine would have because of her previous job." Greg shrugged. "I never really thought about the idea that all of us were kids at some point."

"Well, there's still a possibility that something did happen to Catherine while she was working as an exotic dancer and she feels too uncomfortable to say anything," Sara said, shrugging with one shoulder. "Same thing with Warrick or Gil. Or you, Greg. Rape can happen to anyone."

Greg busied himself with transferring fluid prepared to break down DNA into sample tubes. "I know. I do know that. I've just been lucky enough to have never been in that situation. And it shouldn't be luck that's the deciding factor there. Luck shouldn't mean some kids are safe at home and others live like this," he said, slotting the tubes into the reader with a grimace.

"That's why we do our jobs. The more of these people we get off the street, the safer we all are. What does the reader say?" Sara asked.

"Let's find out," Greg said. He flipped a switch and leaned in to watch the program run.

* * *

"Need a hand?" Nick asked as he walked up behind Warrick.

"Sure. Want to grab those boxes for me?" Warrick asked, motioning to a stack of file boxes. "This is the case from six years ago. According to the case summary, a neighbor found Jeremy scavenging for food in the apartment complex after the kids were abandoned. The neighbor called social services."

Nick shook his head as he lifted the stack of file boxes from the storage room floor. "Jeremy's a bold kid. As soon as Paul showed up in the hotel lobby, Jeremy asked us if we were with the police and then accused Paul of sexually abusing them."

"Probably couldn't stand seeing him near his sister," Warrick said, nodding as he collected the rest of the boxes. "Brave kid, though."

"Very," Nick agreed. He followed Warrick up into one of the conference rooms and set the file boxes down on the table.

"Nick?" Warrick asked after they'd been reading silently for about fifteen minutes. "Are you doing alright?"

Nick nodded and used his finger to mark his place in the file he was reading. "I'm okay. I want to make sure we're covering all of our bases here. It looks like we have some DNA evidence, as well as descriptions of some of the people who were holding Jeremy and Michael captive, but no one was brought in for questioning."

"From the look of it, most of the apartment complex was abandoned by the time social services got involved," Warrick added. "Are you okay, though? After sitting with Michael and Jeremy for three hours and talking about child abuse?"

"I'm alright," Nick said again. "Hearing about that stuff makes my skin crawl, but I'm glad we have Paul in custody."

Warrick shook his head. "There was someone else on the camera that we found in the hotel room. Hopefully we'll have a match to the DNA left behind and we can put together an arrest warrant."

"Fuckers," Nick swore as he slammed a file against the table. "We'll get them. I'm going to go check in on Archie and see where we're at."

He didn't give Warrick time to ask him how he was again. It only took five minutes to cross the lab and reach the rooms set aside for computer work.

"What've we got?" Catherine asked as Nick stepped inside the computer lab.

"Nothing good," Archie said, not looking up from the code scrolling across a pair of screens. "In fact, I don't think you're going to want to be here for this."

Nick raised his eyebrows but stayed back.

"Why is that?" Catherine asked, folding her arms.

Archie turned around in his chair so that he could see both Catherine and Nick. "Because I'm about to decrypt four terabytes of what is likely to be child pornography. I don't want to see that, and I'm guessing you don't want to see that either. Catherine, could you let Ecklie know that I'll be bringing in the FBI's Crimes Against Children Unit? This is beyond the scope of what we're able to process here."

Catherine nodded, her expression grim. "Let us know if you find anything relevant to the people we already have detained," she said, backing toward the exit.

"If you mean other than having one of the largest known encrypted collections of child pornography in the world, will do," Archie replied, already refocused on his computer screen.

Nick followed Catherine out into the hallway and leaned against the wall with a sigh.

"Are you okay?" Catherine asked.

Nick nodded without really processing the question. "Are you?" he asked.

"More or less," Catherine said with a sigh. "I didn't expect Sara to tell us something like that."

"Me neither," Nick said, focusing his gaze on the floor.

"I think what you said was probably just as unexpected to the rest of the team," Catherine said.

Nick shrugged. "It doesn't really matter much now. I want Paul behind bars and these kids safe. That's what's important."

"That's important," Catherine agreed. "But it changes cases like this. For you and for Sara. I hope that having the team know will make that easier."

"Maybe," Nick allowed. Mostly he was hoping that the team would forget what he had said. He thought Sara was probably hoping the same.

* * *

"Hey," Sara said, pausing in the doorway of Gil's office. "How did the meetings with Ecklie and Brass go?"

Gil looked up from his desk, his eyes taking a moment to focus on Sara. "As well as can be expected, I think," he said, his voice as uncertain as his words.

Sara arched her eyebrows and internally debated how much of this conversation she wanted to have with Gil. Ideally, not at all. "Meaning what, exactly?" she asked as she took another step into his office.

Gil hesitated, his lips parting as he heavily exhaled. "Meaning Brass is pissed as hell and Ecklie is concerned about anyone becoming overly emotionally invested in the case."

"Ecklie can go fuck himself," Sara responded immediately, gritting her teeth as she sat down in the chair across from Gil's desk.

"That was more or less what I told him," Gil said, shrugging with one shoulder.

"More or less?" Sara asked doubtfully.

"Not quite the same words, roughly the same meaning without getting myself fired," Gil admitted. "I'd express that concern myself, but there's not really a point. Cases like this, they are what they are. I was right there in that hotel lobby with you and Nick. I can't say that the case has the same effect on me as it does on you, or as on Nick, but I'm not without a conscience."

Sara nodded and slowly made the decision to back away from that line of questioning. There were some things she didn't need to know Gil's opinion on - the full extent of her family's past was definitely one of them. If Nick wanted to probe further and find out what Gil's opinion was, he could be her guest. "Greg's getting the samples that Cath and Warrick gathered from the hotel room processed. Nick and Warrick are looking into whatever files are left from when Jeremy and Michael were first taken into custody. I'm going to go down to the Children's Hospital in the morning and meet Rachel there for her SART exam. Between the hotel room sheets, the camera and the laptop, and the SART kit, we should have everything we need for a slam dunk on Paul," she explained.

Gil nodded slowly. "Good. We'll get that prosecuted as quickly as possible. Vanessa is going to be a tougher shot, forensically speaking. See what the hospital can get in terms of pictures of bruising on Rachel. Given what we saw in the hotel lobby, I would be surprised if there isn't additional evidence of physical abuse."

"I'd be surprised as well. I got pictures of her arms already, but," Sara stopped speaking and looked up as Gil's office door swung all the way open.

Catherine stalked in, her expression wavering between worried and irritated. "We have a problem," she said without preamble, looking directly at Gil. "Vanessa just accused you of assaulting her."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Sara looked grimly around the lobby of the Las Vegas Children's Hospital.

"Sara," Danea called as she approached from the elevator banks.

"Danea," Sara said in greeting. "I don't suppose you've heard yet, regarding Vanessa?"

Danea shook her head and motioned for Sara to continue.

"Last night, Vanessa attempted suicide. She's accusing Gil of raping her," Sara explained, folding her arms. "She's lying. I was with Gil when she claims that this happened. We also have video surveillance watching her cell the entire time. She was moved to the Desert State Mental Hospital early this morning."

Danea paused, her brow furrowed. "How serious was the suicide attempt?" she asked.

"Not very. The wounds were superficial - they wouldn't have been fatal even if the guards had ignored her. They moved her to the State Hospital as a precaution," Sara explained.

"How much trouble is this accusation going to cause for Gil and your team?" Danea asked.

Sara sighed. "That's a good question. Hopefully not much. I don't think it's likely to reach a court."

"That's something at least," Danea said as they circled into a waiting room. "I asked Anita to meet me here with Rachel at ten, so hopefully we'll see them soon."

Sara nodded. "Do you know a social worker called Tina Balcati?"

"Jeremy and Michael's social worker before they were adopted? I don't know her personally, but I pulled their files last night. Given that Paul has been employed by the same military base for the these past six years, there was at least some lapse of duty involved," Danea shook her head. "I've already flagged the case and sent it for review."

The sound of footsteps in the hallway prevented Sara from asking if Danea thought that would do any good. She and Nick could follow up regardless.

"Here they are, Sara and Danea, just like they said," Anita said, nodding to where Sara and Danea were still standing.

"Hi Sara. Hi Danea," Rachel said, giving both of them a small wave.

"Hi Rachel. Hi Anita," Sara said, unable to not notice how Rachel immediately oriented to her.

"Hello Rachel. Hello Anita," Danea echoed.

"Sara? What is the doctor going to do?" Rachel asked.

Sara hesitated. "For the most part it will be a checkup, to make sure you're healthy. The doctor will also document anything that can be used in court," she explained, deciding to leave out the particulars of the exam until they could have that discussion more privately.

Rachel paused and then nodded.

Sara turned in time to see a nurse approach from further down the hallway.

"Rachel Chatlin?" the nurse asked, smiling at Rachel. "Doctor Schmidt's office is this way."

Sara glanced to Anita and Danea and waited until Anita nodded her approval before stepping forward to walk with Rachel. They followed the nurse down two halls and into an exam room.

Rachel stopped just inside the door, her expression changing from worried to fearful.

Holding back a sigh, Sara stepped forward and placed her hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"Do you know what the doctor is supposed to do?" Rachel asked.

"I do," Sara said.

Rachel tipped her head back so she could see Sara's eyes. "You'll stop the doctor if they try to do something they aren't supposed to do?"

"Yes," Sara promised. For once - after what Archie had found on Paul's computer last night - she didn't feel overarmed for anywhere except a crime scene.

The interior door of the exam room opened and a young woman in a white lab coat entered flanked by two nurses.

"Hello. I'm Doctor Maggie Schmidt," she said, offering Sara her hand.

"Sara Sidle, CSI," Sara said as she shook the doctor's hand. "This is Rachel Chatlin."

"It's very nice to meet you, Rachel," Doctor Schmidt said, leaning forward so that she could better meet Rachel's eyes and she shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you too," Rachel said, shaking the doctor's hand and then looking back to Sara.

"The exam I'll be performing today serves two primary functions. First, we want to do an overall check on your state of health. Second, we want to document any evidence of prior injury or illness. Do you have any questions before we start?" Doctor Schmidt asked.

Rachel looked uncomfortable but pushed back her sleeves to reveal her scarred forearms. "I did these myself," she said, avoiding Sara's gaze.

"Okay," Doctor Schmidt said, gently tilting Rachel's arm to get a better look at the scarring. "Do you recall what you used to injure yourself?"

"A razor blade for most of them," Rachel said, glancing at Sara uncertainly.

Sara made certain her expression was neutral and nodded - she remembered very clearly Rachel telling her about Vanessa threatening to show people that Rachel was a freak for cutting herself. She didn't want Rachel to think that cutting herself was okay, but she didn't want to reinforce Rachel's belief that she was a freak either.

"And the bruising?" Doctor Schmidt asked.

Rachel peered down at her arms - the bruising on her right arm already looked worse than it had last night. "My mom was holding onto my arm yesterday," she said, her expression still worried.

The Doctor nodded and one of the nurses stepped forward holding a camera. "We're going to take pictures of any scars or bruising," she said.

Rachel bit her lower lip but remained still to allow the nurse to take the picture.

"Rachel, would you mind putting on this hospital gown?" the second nurse asked, holding out a child sized hospital gown.

"Okay," Rachel said, accepting the gown from the nurse and turning to Sara.

Sara stepped forward and undid the ties at the top of the gown. "Let's start with your t-shirt," she said, holding up the gown so Rachel could see how it was supposed to go on.

Rachel pulled her t-shirt over her head and reached for the hospital gown in one smooth motion. Sara slid Rachel's arms in through the sleeves of the gown and stepped behind her to do up the ties.

"Jeans next, please," the nurse instructed, once Sara had finished with the top two ties.

Rachel ducked her head but slipped her hands up under the gown and slid her jeans down without bothering to undo the button or the zipper. She stepped out of them and then reached back under the hospital gown and pulled down her panties without having to be asked.

"Can you bring your hair forward over your shoulders?" Sara asked, keeping all of her focus on keeping her hands steady. The scarring on Rachel's shoulders and back was worse than she had anticipated and went down to intersect with patches of multicolored bruises.

"Is that better?" Rachel asked, managing to pull most of her hair forward over her left shoulder.

"I think that will work?" Sara asked, moving to the side so the doctor could see better.

"That will do," Doctor Schmidt said quietly. "Rachel, can you stand just like that for a minute so we can take pictures?"

Rachel looked uncomfortable, but held still while the nurse took photos of the scarring that came down from her shoulders and marked the flat of her back.

"Can I hold the edge of your gown to the side for a few moments?" Sara asked, briefly meeting the gaze of the nurse as the nurse with the camera paused.

Rachel reached back without comment and held the edges of the gown to the sides to expose herself, all the while keeping her gaze fixed on the floor.

"Thank you," the nurse said, her expression full of empathy as she resumed taking pictures.

Sara noticed that a fine tremor had started to run through Rachel's body and turned to catch the Doctor's attention.

"Okay, that will do for pictures. The primary piece of the exam remaining is to collect evidence of sexual assault," Doctor Schmidt said, looking up from her clipboard.

Rachel frowned and glanced to Sara. "How does that work?"

"Through a pelvic exam," Doctor Schmidt said, glancing over to Sara very briefly.

"The Doctor has to?" Rachel asked, looking up at Sara.

Sara nodded. "It's important to check for any injuries."

"You'll stay here?" Rachel asked.

"Yes," Sara said automatically, noting how relieved Rachel seemed just from that reassurance. Sara moved so that she was standing next to the exam table and helped Rachel climb up to sit on the end.

"You can hold my hand, if you want to," Sara offered, while the doctor and nurses prepared for the exam.

Rachel hesitated for a moment before she reached out with her palm open.

Sara took Rachel's hand and tried not to think about how Rachel was just slightly younger than Sara herself had been when she'd been first taken into foster care. She remembered the physical and medical exam and how alone and helpless she had felt. Hopefully being here, holding Rachel's hand, would help this experience be at least a little bit less traumatizing.

"We're going to make this as quick and painless as possible. Let us know if you want to take a break," Doctor Schmidt said.

"Okay," Rachel said quietly. Her hand kept a death grip on Sara's.

* * *

"Sara?" Rachel asked as she started to change back into her own clothes.

"Yeah?" Sara asked.

"Do you think Nick would want to see Jeremy and Michael again?" Rachel asked, looking up from where she had started lacing up her shoes.

Sara nodded. "I can't make any promises on his behalf, but I think he'd likely be interested in seeing you kids again," she said, hoping she was reading that situation right.

Rachel quietly finished tying her shoes and then got to her feet. "Are Jeremy and Michael going to have to live with Vanessa and Paul because he's their dad?" she asked.

"I don't think that's very likely," Sara hedged, pausing as she considered Rachel. "Some of the things Paul and Vanessa were doing are against the law. They might be going to jail."

Rachel frowned and looked thoughtful. "If Paul and Vanessa go to jail, where would I live?"

"Very likely, you would live with Anita, with Jeremy and Michael," Sara explained, and then paused before moving to leave the doctor's office. "But, if you needed a place to live, there would be a place for you with me. You'd likely be more comfortable with Anita and your brothers, but if you needed somewhere else to stay, you're more than welcome to stay with me."

Rachel paused and then nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate that. Anita might decide that she doesn't want me to live with them."

Sara thought that Anita was likely to have a mutiny on her hands if she tried to decide any such thing.

"If Anita decides something like that, can I call you?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, please do," Sara said quickly. "Or, if you can't reach me by phone for whatever reason and it's an urgent situation like that, you can come down to the Las Vegas Police Department. If you, or Jeremy or Michael, ask anyone who is on duty for me or for Nick, they'll help you find us."

"Okay," Rachel said, nodding. "Nick won't mind?"

"Nope," Sara shook her head. "And if he did mind, he can blame me."

"Then what would happen?" Rachel asked, looking worried.

"Then Nick and I would talk over our general guidelines for interrupting us at work and make sure we're on the same page. For the time being, if it feels urgent, it probably qualifies as urgent," Sara explained.

Rachel considered that for a moment and then nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you feel okay to go back to Anita for now?" Sara asked.

"Yep. Michael went to school today because he had a test in one of his classes. Jeremy stayed home though," Rachel explained. "Do you think I'll be allowed to go to school too?"

"I don't see why not. It's likely you'd go to the same school as Jeremy, I think?" Sara asked as she reached for the door to the doctor's office.

"I'd like to go to school," Rachel said as they stepped into the hall. "Jeremy and Michael seemed worried about me going to school though."

"Well, we'll look into any concerns they have and try to make it as safe as possible for all three of you," Sara said calmly. Anywhere they'd even consider sending Rachel to school would already have the advantage of being safer than when she was living with Vanessa and Paul.

"Okay," Rachel agreed, smiling brightly at Sara.

They rounded the corner into a waiting room where Anita and Danea were sitting together at the edge.

"Everything alright?" Danea asked as she stood up.

"Yes, preliminary results show everything is fine," Sara said, nodding to Anita. "We'll let both of you know if test results indicate something is concerning."

Anita nodded and then hesitated. "Do you think the current situation should be addressed with everyone, or should we wait for more information first?" she asked.

Sara didn't have to clarify to know that Anita was trying to ask if the kids should be told about what Vanessa had accused Gil of doing and had then tried to do herself. "Let's wait for now," Sara suggested, thinking back to how much she had left out of multiple conversations with Rachel and how many discussions needed to be had with Rachel at some point in the near future.

Anita and Danea both seemed to receive the unspoken message and silently nodded their receipt.

"Alright, please keep us up to date," Anita said as she glanced at Rachel.

Sara nodded. "Nick and I will keep you informed as the case develops," she said, making sure she met Rachel's gaze as well as Anita's and Danea's.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Nick?" Sara asked as she made her way through the lab.

"Down here," Nick called from inside the DNA lab.

Sara rounded the corner and walked over to where Nick was working. "Yesterday you said that Rachel and Jeremy both had scar tissue on their backs from being beaten by Paul?" she asked.

"According to Michael, they do. I didn't ask to see the scars in person," Nick said, reaching for a stack of files. "Here, these were taken when Jeremy and Michael were first rescued."

Sara handed Nick a USB drive in exchange for the physical files. "These are what we took today. Worse than I expected."

Nick plugged in the USB drive and began looking through the images. "Severe enough of a beating to leave scars that lasted through childhood," he said grimly.

"Rachel wanted to know if you were interested in seeing Michael and Jeremy again," Sara said, setting aside the files that Nick had handed her.

"What did you tell her?" Nick asked.

"I told her that I thought you would likely want to see them again, but that I couldn't make any promises," Sara explained.

Nick nodded. "I would. I would like to see them again, unless you think that would be a bad idea?"

"No," Sara said, shaking her head. "I think it would be a good idea. All three of them need appropriate male role models and you more than fit the bill."

"How did the rest of the exam go?" Nick asked.

Sara grimaced. "She's got scars on her back, buttocks, and thighs. They weren't able to tell much from the sexual assault exam apart from the fact that there have been multiple sexual traumas."

"Not that she's had any choice about that," Nick said grimly. "Archie has been on the phone with the FBI's Crimes Against Children Unit most of the morning."

"Hopefully they'll be able to identify some of the other perps from the hard drive," Sara sad, folding her arms. "I told the social worker, Danea, about the situation with Vanessa, but not the kids yet."

"Maybe we should ask Anita if she wants us around for that?" Nick asked.

Sara shrugged. "We've got to tell them at some point before it makes the newspapers."

"I'll text Anita and ask her, unless you think I shouldn't?" Nick asked.

"I think that's probably fine," Sara said, picking back up the files Nick had handed her.

Nick frowned down at his phone while he waited for a reply. "Oh, here we are. Anita is asking if we would like to have dinner at their house tonight."

"I'm okay with that if you are?" Sara asked.

"Okay," Nick said as he started texting a response. "Anything I should tell her apart from that you are vegetarian?"

"That should do it as far as I'm concerned," Sara said.

Nick looked down at his phone and nodded. "We're expected around four or five in the afternoon."

* * *

"And here we are," Sara said as she brought her car to a stop in the middle of a Las Vegas suburb.

Nick glanced around the yard and the driveway, but didn't see anything that indicated it was any different than any other house in the neighborhood. "Are we ready for this?" he asked, pausing as he looked out on the house.

"They're the same kids as yesterday," Sara said as she got out of the car. "If anything, Michael and Jeremy will be pissed off at Vanessa."

Nick got out of the car and shook his head. "Fortunately there's no support there, whatsoever."

"There doesn't have to be. There just has to be the wrong outcry from the wrong group of people," Sara said. She shook her head as she pocketed her phone. "The best we can hope for is little to no media response."

"Which is probably not what we're going to get," Nick said as they approached the front door.

"Probably not," Sara agreed. She rang the doorbell and then took a step back.

Nick paused and after hearing the sound of footsteps running in the hallway, he took a step back as well.

"Sara! Nick!" Jeremy said loudly as he pulled open the front door. "Mom said you'd be here for dinner."

"Sara?" Michael asked from further inside the hallway. "Mom says you're a vegetarian like I am?"

"I am vegetarian," Sara said, smiling at Michael. "I wasn't aware you were."

"I started about six months ago," Michael said earnestly. "It's been more changes than I'd been expecting."

Sara nodded. "There are a few places meat sneaks in unexpectedly, but for the most part it's relatively straightforward to identify."

"Can I ask you for your opinions on various meat substitutes?" Michael asked.

"Absolutely," Sara said, moving so that she was sitting down next to Michael.

"Mom, can I show Nick around?" Jeremy asked as he pulled the front door shut.

"That's fine," Anita called from further in the kitchen.

"Kitchen is in there, living room is back there," Jeremy said, pointing behind the kitchen towards the back of the house. "Then, this way is the bedrooms and the bathrooms."

"Okay," Nick said. "Lead the way."

"Okay. First bedroom on the left is Michael's. Next doors are the bathroom and closet. Then my bedroom. Mom's bedroom is at the end of the hall," Jeremy explained as he showed Nick down the hallway.

"Hi Nick," Rachel said, peeking out from inside the bedroom Jeremy had said was his.

"Hi Rachel," Nick said, trying not to think of the pictures he'd seen of her that the Doctor had taken earlier that day. "How are you?"

"Good," Rachel said, smiling as she held up something for Nick to see. "We're building with Lego."

"Very cool," Nick said as he looked at whatever it was that the structure was supposed to be.

Jeremy looked up at Nick. "You can build with us until dinner time, if you want?" he asked.

Nick looked down and saw that both Rachel and Jeremy were watching him very intently. "Sure. What are we building?"

"A space town," Rachel explained. "This is the town hall."

"This is the garage. It's where they make all of the vehicles," Jeremy explained as he stepped to the side of their set-up and knelt down.

Nick saw a place he could sit on the floor and still reach most of the town buildings and settled in. "Where is the space town? Are they on the moon? Mars maybe?" he asked as he put a few pieces of a dome together.

"Jupiter," Rachel said quickly.

"Doesn't Jupiter have rings?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, but the atmosphere is probably so thick you wouldn't be able to see them from the surface, at least at some places," Rachel said. "If we pretend everything freezes when it comes into contact with the atmosphere, the atmosphere itself is probably too thick to be transparent most places."

"Okay, so Jupiter, but the citizens can't see the rings from the surface," Jeremy said as he continued to work on constructing a futuristic looking vehicle.

"Is there a cafeteria?" Nick asked as he looked through the town.

"Not yet, but we need one, otherwise all the people will starve," Jeremy said.

"We also need a hydroponics bay and other mechanisms for producing food," Rachel said.

"Maybe these domes would be good for a farm?" Nick suggested as he passed over a few translucent plastic pieces.

It didn't take long before Nick found himself immersed with building with Jeremy and Rachel.

"See, I knew where they'd be," Michael said from the bedroom doorway.

"Dinner's ready," Sara said, her smile bright as she looked down at them.

"We've almost got the farm and the hydroponics bay for the space town done," Rachel said as she stood up.

"Very nice," Sara said as she looked at the piece Rachel was showing her. "What are the towns people using for energy?"

"Wind turbines. Jupiter is too far away for solar," Jeremy explained, making a few pieces spin for illustration.

"Well reasoned," Sara said, nodding and smiling. "Time to wash up for dinner though."

"Okay," Rachel said, immediately on her feet and off towards the bathroom; Jeremy only a half step behind her.

"I'm too old for this," Nick said as he reached for Sara's help to get up."

"Not too old to get yourself down there," Sara pointed out, even as she held out a hand to Nick.

"Down is much easier than up," he said, letting Sara pull him to his feet.

Sara grinned. "That it is. You're not exempted from washing your hands either."

Nick held up his hands in mock surrender. "You'll get no argument from me."

* * *

"How long have you been a vegetarian?" Jeremy asked.

"About six years. Shortly after I moved to Vegas," Sara said.

Michael nodded. "I decided towards the end of last school year."

"My sister was a vegetarian for a few months while we were in high school," Nick said. "Although we didn't have quite so many fake meat options around at the time."

"I've been pleasantly surprised at how many soy options there are," Anita said as she sat down at the table with the last platter of food.

"Why does it look like meat if it's actually a plant?" Rachel asked.

"Because people are more likely to think it tastes like meat if it looks like meat," Sara answered easily.

"I don't really care if it looks like meat as long as it's not actually from an animal," Michael said firmly. "We have soy patties and beef patties tonight."

Nick smiled as he reached for the tongs on the beef plate. "I'm going to go with real meat. For some reason, soy has never tasted right to me."

"That may be my fault," Sara said as she served Michael and herself from the plate with soy patties. "Michael and Anita have been telling me about grilling and marinating soy."

"Let me guess, it doesn't start with finding the number for take out?" Nick asked, unable to stop his smirk.

Sara barely rose an eyebrow in Nick's direction as she served potatoes onto Rachel's plate. "You know perfectly well that I'm skilled in many things that don't involve the kitchen."

"That's true," Nick admitted. "Sara can strip an engine faster than anyone I've ever met."

"What does that mean?" Rachel asked.

"It means to take apart an engine," Anita explained while Nick was still in the process of silently conveying to Sara that they both were going to have to get used to talking around younger ears.

"You can take apart an engine?" Jeremy asked, the excitement all too evident in his voice.

"I can, and so can Nick, though I think it would probably be close if we were being timed," Sara said, raising an eyebrow in Nick's direction.

"Is that something you kids would be interested in seeing at some point?" Nick asked - though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"Oh, hell yes," Jeremy said, his eyes wide.

"Language," Anita rebuked mildly.

"We can go, though?" Jeremy asked.

"Most likely, yes, if it's not a school night," Anita agreed.

"Would you kids like to help? The best way to learn a new skill is by trying it out with someone to mentor you," Sara said, obviously reading how excited Jeremy was.

"Yes, beyond my current vocabulary to express, yes," Jeremy said immediately.

"How about you two?" Nick asked, looking to Michael and Rachel.

Michael nodded as he finished cutting up his piece of soy. "At the very least I'd be interested in watching."

Rachel bobbed her head. "I probably should be limited to just watching. I wouldn't want to break anything or mess anything up," she said.

Sara shook her head. "No need to worry about that. Nick and I will make sure whatever the project is something where it won't be an issue if there are any mistakes. A good portion of the fun in science is messing up and making mistakes."

Jeremy started shaking his head. "Oh you would so not get along with my science teacher."

Rachel shook her head too. "Or mine, though I don't see how I could still go to that school if I'm not living in Utah."

"Not going to that school sounds like it may not be such a bad thing," Sara observed outloud.

"Rachel going to our school may not necessarily be the best thing either," Jeremy said, looking to Michael.

"Before we even cross that bridge, shouldn't we make sure Rachel's foster situation is as stable as it's going to get?" Michael asked.

"That's a good point," Jeremy said as he looked back to Nick and Sara. "Has there been any updates on the legal situation that we should know about?"

Nick turned and met Sara's gaze. This was more or less what they'd been working on a way to tell them.

"Can I ask a really weird question?" Jeremy asked, glancing from Nick to Sara.

"Sure," Nick said at roughly the same time Sara said "Go for it."

"Paul had in his possession child pornography. Did that include stuff of me and Michael," he asked.

"We don't know at this point," Sara said, her mouth twisting in unhappiness. "That section of the investigation is currently under the Crimes Against Children Unit of the FBI, and we're not sure in particular how they're identifying children.

Michael looked to Jeremy and then Rachel. "If they're making any effort at all to identify victims or perpetrators, then it's better than what they were doing."

Nick silently agreed. "Hopefully within the next week or so the FBI will be able to show observable progress in identifying some of the people involved," he said.

"There is one thing about the case that we do need to update you about, though we're not sure yet what the final outcome will be," Sara said, glancing to Nick and then back out at the kids.

"They can't make us give Rachel back," Jeremy shook his head and looked entirely serious. "I know they can legally say Rachel has to go back to Paul and Vanessa, but now that we've found her, we'll take her and get far away from here if we have to, to keep us safe from them."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Sara said with a firm nod. "But most likely that will not be necessary. One of the things that Nick and I and our team is working on are making sure charges stick to both Paul and Vanessa. Paul is pretty well covered in terms of conviction worthy evidence. Vanessa is a little bit more slippery, in more ways than one."

"It's harder to keep her in prison?" Rachel asked.

Nick nodded. "It is, but we're still working on our end, making sure that evidence is ready to be presented to the District Attorney's office."

Sara hesitated, looking across the people seated at the table. "Vanessa threw somewhat of a legal wrench in the works this morning. So far, the biggest impact that it has had on the case is that Vanessa is being held at the Desert State Mental Hospital instead of at the County Jailhouse."

"What did she do?" Michael asked.

"I think here is probably a good place to mention that parts of this conversation may potentially be upsetting," Anita commented.

Nick narrowly avoided smiling at the expression both Sara and Jeremy made as a reaction to Anita's concern.

"Last night Vanessa attempted suicide - not in a way that was actually a threat to her life, but enough so that they felt it was necessary to move her to be observed in the County Mental Health Facility," Sara explained.

Rachel nodded, not seeming overly concerned. "She does that sometimes."

"Oh?" Anita asked, looking more concerned as the conversation continued.

"Tries to kill herself," Rachel said, nodding again.

Jeremy and Michael looked at each other, both obviously unhappy.

"She'll go somewhere and try to kill herself, or show back up and say she did, and we wouldn't know if it was true or not," Rachel explained.

Sara sighed. "Which fits with the rest of this, more or less. Vanessa lied and told one of the detectives in charge at the station that mine and Nick's team leader Gil assaulted her last night. We know for certain that Vanessa is lying about that; Gil was with me at the time and we have video surveillance footage of Vanessa in her cell," Sara said, shaking her head.

"Is that going to cause trouble for your team leader?" Michael asked.

Nick glanced at Sara and then shook his head. "Some trouble, but nothing on a legal level, I think. That we have surveillance of the cells should keep that from going anywhere as an investigation."

Jeremy frowned. "And it's not going to prevent charges from being filed against her. Like from what she did to Rachel?"

"It shouldn't," Sara said firmly. "And Vanessa will have to go through family court as well as be cleared through the county court system in order for her to have legal custody of anyone again. That is very unlikely to happen and multiple people are working to make sure it doesn't happen."

Michael and Jeremy looked at each other. "Someone should have done something about Paul and Vanessa years ago," Jeremy said flatly.

Nick nodded. "You're right, they should have, which means Sara and I will do anything we can to protect you from them. All three of you, and any other children who need to be protected from them."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Spoilers for 521 Committed

Sara sighed as she slid into the driver's seat of her car, Nick echoing her from the passenger's seat.

"That went about as well as it could be expected, I think," Nick said as he glanced back at the house.

"More or less. I suppose it's good information to have that Vanessa attempts suicide on occasion," Sara said, shaking her head.

"I'd like a social worker to hear Rachel say that. There are no circumstances in which that is an appropriate environment for a child," he said.

"We'll do whatever we have to," Sara said, putting her car in drive. "Do you need to go straight back to the lab?"

Nick shook his head. "I'm free until we're scheduled tonight. You have something in mind?"

"Possibly something we should talk about briefly. A conversation I'd rather not have in the lab, at least not right away," she explained.

"Okay, you pick," Nick said. "I'm completely open."

"My apartment okay?" Sara asked.

Nick nodded. "Sounds fine."

Sara sighed and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she pulled away from the curb.

Nick started checking his text messages. "I think that's the longest I've gone without checking my phone in years," he said as he started scrolling through the messages.

Sara started laughing, her shoulders shaking as she pulled to a stop in front of a red light.

"What?" Nick asked, not entirely sure she was laughing at him.

"Your face, when Michael and I walked into Jeremy's room and you were down on the floor playing with Lego," Sara grinned. "You looked perfectly content playing there with the kids. It was very sweet."

Nick shrugged, feeling himself blush. "They're good kids. Smart. Warrick says some of the FBI are showing up tonight," he said, replying in text on his phone.

"Good. Hopefully they'll be in a position to take out anyone affiliated with these people. There's no way he was working alone," Sara said, shaking her head as she pulled into her parking spot at her apartment building.

"Hopefully they'll be able to explain to the kids how no one bothered to help their sister for six years after they were abandoned here to pedophiles in Vegas," Nick said. "I'd like an explanation there myself."

Sara sighed as she shut her car door and looked over the roof at Nick. "No explanation that they give is going to be good enough. The best we can do is find where the transition of the case went wrong and make sure some sort of safeguard is in place to prevent anything like this from happening again. Everything Rachel suffered this past six years was preventable, and we're going to figure out why she wasn't identified and rescued when Michael and Jeremy were first brought into the system."

"Okay," Nick agreed, nodding reluctantly. He followed Sara into her apartment building, still lost in thought. "We need to do whatever we can to keep her out of Vanessa's custody. I don't think Jeremy and Michael are going to give us the option for anything else."

"I'm pretty sure Michael and Jeremy will take Rachel and flee the state if they think there's a possibility that Vanessa or Paul will be given custody of any of them. Hell, I'd help them run, if they needed the help," Sara said, shaking her head. "Here's me."

Nick followed Sara into her apartment and was unsurprised at how tidy the rooms were as a whole.

Sara flopped down onto the couch and waved Nick at the neighboring armchair.

Nick sat down and realized he'd been trying not to speculate about what Sara hadn't wanted to say at the lab.

"Did you know that Gil and I worked a case at the Desert State Mental Hospital early this spring?" Sara asked after a moment of quiet.

"I wasn't aware of that," Nick said, frowning at Sara as he tried to make connections. "Something happened, on the case?"

Sara sighed and tipped her head back. "That's one way of putting it. It's somewhere I would prefer not to go again, if possible."

Nick nodded and tried not to leap to the conclusions that this case was leading him to. "We can make sure that won't be necessary."

"As much as possible," Sara agreed. "But, you should at least know, I think. Gil is going to make sure Ecklie is aware too."

"Okay," Nick said, watching as Sara avoided his gaze.

"While we were working the case there, I wasn't paying close enough attention and I was investigating the nurses station while Gil was down the hall getting keys from the janitor. One of the patients there had a piece of ceramics he was using as a shiv, and he held that against my throat," Sara explained, her expression distressed as she looked away from Nick.

"Sara, you don't have to tell me the rest," Nick said, immediately seeing why she hadn't wanted to have this conversation at the lab.

Sara shook her head. "Gil showed up while the patient still had the shiv against my throat. I could feel him pressing his erection against me - he didn't want me to look at Gil. The staff showed up to open the door and I managed to pull away. The patient cut his own throat while I ran from the room."

"I'm sorry," Nick said, closing his eyes and exhaling. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Sara. Particularly when it's connecting to a case that already has some unwelcome connections."

"No," Sara said, sighing and shaking her head again. "It just is what it is. This case is going to have some associations for us that we wish it didn't have, but, well, I know that I've already become attached to the kids. More than I should have. I'm not going to go looking to change that until I know that they're safe."

Nick sighed. "I'm more attached than I should be at this point. But, I'm not looking to change that either. Someone needs to look out for them and protect them."

"And they know it. Today at the doctor's office, Rachel asked me if I knew what the doctor was supposed to do and if I would stop them if they tried to do something else," Sara said, her eyes and mouth both unhappy.

"Well, if we can get Vanessa and Paul sentenced, that's a good start. Then we can follow up with the people from Paul's hard drive," Nick said, nodding grimly.

Sara nodded. "Warrick said some of the FBI will be here tonight?" she asked.

"That's what he said. Hopefully they'll be able to help us finalize the charges on Paul and Vanessa, then we can pin down as many of the rest as possible," Nick said, looking down at his phone.

"Alright. I'm ready to go back to the lab when you are," Sara said, nodding to herself.

Nick paused and looked at Sara. "If there's any reason that some of us need to go down to the state mental hospital, I'll make sure it's Warrick and I who wind up going," he said, reaching across the gap to nudge Sara's ankle with his foot.

Sara looked away from Nick but nodded anyway. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Nick shook his head. "Don't mention it. I've always known without a doubt, if I needed something, you'd be there. I'm there for you too, Sara."

"I appreciate that, more than I know how to say," Sara said, meeting Nick's eyes for the first time since they'd gone up to her apartment.

* * *

"ETA Las Vegas Crime Lab, forty minutes," Rossi said as he slid neatly onto the freeway.

"Thanks for driving," Emily said as she turned a page in the file she was reading.

"Not a problem, but if the two of you want to fill me in before we reach the lab, I'd appreciate it," Rossi said, sparing a glance in the rearview mirror.

JJ shook her head. "We don't have much yet. I think you and Hotch are going to have to go in there and play hardball with this guy though."

"Even then, I don't know that you'll get anything. If this guy is at all smart, he won't talk. If he's smart, he'll keep his mouth shut and let the evidence do all the talking," Emily said, flipping through a few more pages of the file.

"Didn't they say there was no chance of him getting a plea deal or anything," Rossi asked.

JJ shook her head. "Not here in Vegas. Rape of a child 12 and younger is an offense punishable by life in prison, in Vegas," she said.

"Doesn't matter if he doesn't survive long enough to be sentenced," Emily countered.

"And with no possible deal on the table, there's no reason for him to talk or to turn in any of his compatriots," Rossi finished grimly.

"Given that he gave us four terabytes of encrypted child pornography, the rest of his group might decide to take him out anyway," Emily said, putting down the file she'd been skimming through.

"Katie says that they've already identified multiple offenders from the harddrive who are in the midst of legal proceedings," JJ said, looking up from her phone. "This might be what they've needed to crack down on several child pornography rings."

"What about the kids? Strauss said there are survivors?" Rossi asked.

"According to this file, this guy has three biological kids," Emily said.

"Alive?" Rossi asked.

"Surprisingly," JJ said.

"The two boys are teenagers. They entered foster care in Vegas six years ago and were adopted a little over three years ago. The girl is twelve and was just recently reunited with her brothers," Emily said, reading from the file.

Rossi drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "So everything the boys remember is going to be from at least six years ago, if they're even willing to consider thinking about the time from before they were in foster care."

"I think it's likely they'll be willing," Emily said. "According to this, the boys were the ones who tracked down their sister to rescue her and wound up recruiting the help of some passing criminalists, who were working on an unrelated case, when they couldn't managed the situation on their own."

"Only reason the three of them are still alive is probably a matter of the right people there at the right time," JJ said, shaking her head in disbelief. "According to the report, one of the boys outright told a criminalist about the sexual abuse, trying to get their help in the hotel lobby."

"Brave kids," Rossi commented as he merged across the freeway.

Emily nodded and tapped the file with her finger. "If the kids do decide to help us, we need to make sure they have protection in place. I don't think it's likely they'll have much information we can use, but we need to be prepared to place them under federal protection if necessary."

JJ sighed. "Hopefully everything on that harddrive will speak for itself."

"Hopefully," Rossi agreed as he pulled off the freeway, letting the SUV coast towards the red lights.

* * *

"There we are. I was wondering when we'd get this," Nick said, typing steadily on his phone. "Jeremy asks why Vanessa lied, what her purpose was."

Sara shook her head. "Might as well just tell the kids that she's trying to get out of trouble."

"Which is true, but impractical," Nick said as he finished texting.

"She's just looking for whatever plea bargain she can possibly get," Sara said. "Doesn't have to be practical or even plausible. Just has to cross her mind as something to try."

"Well, Jeremy's concerned about the impact on the case and on Gil," Nick said, pausing as he stared down at his phone.

"Me too," Sara added quietly as she rolled into the Crime Lab parking lot.

Nick looked at Sara, surprised and worried. "Even though we can essentially prove that nothing happened, you think it might have an impact on the case?" he asked.

Sara grimaced. "It might. I'm more concerned about the long term impact on Gil. I don't think it's likely to have an impact on the case, but this accusation could follow Gil for a long time."

"Right," Nick said quietly as his phone chimed with another message. "At some point this is going to be a problem, but I can understand why he wants to know."

"About Vanessa?" Sara asked, frowning in confusion as she unclipped her seatbelt.

"No, that was Jeremy asking again if the FBI has pornography of him and Michael from when they were kids," Nick explained.

Sara sighed and covered her face with her hands. "We don't know what was on Paul's hard drive yet. I don't think it's likely we'll know until after the Crimes Against Children Unit has gone through the drive."

Nick nodded grimly. "And even knowing that won't tell us for sure. All we can promise them is that we'll prosecute to the fullest extent of the law as soon as any pornographic material of them is uncovered."

"Do you think they realize about you and me?" Sara asked after a long pause. "That we have a similar background, I mean."

"I doubt it," Nick said, shaking his head. "Michael, maybe. I don't think Jeremy is that aware yet. Rachel isn't, she doesn't-"

"Rachel doesn't yet have any sort of understanding that child abuse or child pornography is wrong," Sara said firmly. "Rachel has no idea that what she's been through is abuse, let alone that you or I have experienced anything like it. It took me until I was an adult before I truly understood how much of a favor my mom had done for me."

Nick felt his eyebrows climb in surprise. "You mean, by your mom killing him-?"

"-because she killed him like that. I never had to face him in court. Not like Rachel and Michael and Jeremy are going to be left having to face Paul," Sara explained.

"I suppose," Nick said, unable to bring himself to phrase Sara's mother killing her father as a favor to anyone, despite what her father had been doing to both Sara and her mother. That was Sara's call though; if Sara wanted to appreciate what her mom had done, he was the last person to stop her.

"Is it just me, or are those our FBI agents from the Crimes Against Children Unit?" Sara asked, nodding in the direction of a black SUV that was parked at the edge of the lot.

Nick peered out across the lot. It was hard to say for certain, but he thought the group with their tidy suits could very easily pass for FBI. "Hard to say for sure, but we can flag them down," he suggested.

Sara bobbed her head in agreement and rolled down the window. Seconds later she was waving her hand across the lot and the people in suits had changed course. "Crimes Against Children Unit?" she asked.

"Behavioral Analysis Unit - BAU," the older man in the suit called back. "We're here liaising with the CACU and the local law enforcement agents who landed the case."

"I'm Nick Stokes, this is Sara Sidle. We're the ones who landed the case out in the field while we were looking at a possible serial murder at a hotel," he explained.

"There are three kids alive?" the woman with long blonde hair asked.

"Three who've been identified. Two teenage boys were victims of the primary perpetrator a few years ago. One twelve year old girl - the boys tracked her down. She's their three-quarters sister," Sara said, her mouth twisting unhappily.

"Katie Cole mentioned that we already have active cases against a few of the perps who were implicated by this hard drive," the second woman said, brushing her dark hair back over her shoulders. "It sounds to me like this was someone's personal collection that you found."

"Explains the fact that there's been a variety of types and kids portrayed in the pornography and yet we haven't seen some of the stuff you'd more traditionally expect to see from child pornography. Usually child pornographers aren't picky unless they're working for someone with very specific preferences," the man commented, adjusting his mustache thoughtfully.

"Well, whoever it is, they're still active. The most recent evidence they found at the hotel room was also caught on camera," Nick said grimly.

"They have full evidence - what was recorded on camera, DNA that was left in the hotel, and then DNA taken from the rape exam they performed yesterday," Sara said as she wiped her hands on her pants. "Thanks to some DNA that was left behind in the hotel room and the recordings, these are all basically open and shut cases."

"Why don't we go in and see what we've got. I'd like to get as many arrest warrants issued tonight as possible," the man with the mustache suggested.

The group followed his suggestion as Nick and Sara led the FBI agents in through the lab.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"If we wait for just a moment, Danea will catch up," Jeremy said as he glanced back at their group.

"If we let the people in the office know we're here, we shouldn't have to wait to meet with someone as long," Rachel said, seeming more occupied with looking around what was likely to be her new school than to paying attention to people in general.

"That's a reasonable idea," Anita said, brushing her hair away from her eyes. "Let's step into the office, I'm sure Danea will be able to find us there."

"If not, we have our cell phones," Jeremy said, leading the way into the front office and then stopping abruptly. "Sara, Nick, you guys were in the room yesterday when Michael and I talked to the FBI about someone at my school, right?"

"Yes," Sara said, glancing at Nick and moving up to the front of their small group.

Rachel was standing stock still just inside the front office door, her gaze locked onto a tall man who appeared approximately in his thirties or fourties.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asked Rachel.

Rachel shook her head back and forth, not breaking her gaze from the man.

"I'm going to text Greg, see if we have any info already," Nick said. "Jeremy, you said you know his name?"

Jeremy had moved, placing himself directly between Rachel and the man. "Norris Bilmore," he said, shaking his head. "We shouldn't be standing here waiting. He recognizes us."

Sara looked at the man - Norris Bilmore - and she'd say that Jeremy's assessment that Jeremy and Rachel were recognizable was right on. Rachel looked - on what Sara would call on any other kid - afraid. Instead she'd say Rachel looked resigned and hopeless.

"Sara, why don't you take Rachel outside or back to the car?" Jeremy asked. "I'm not going to be able to focus well enough to do this with Bilmore being an immediate problem, and there's another problem that needs to be dealt with too before Rachel can go to school here and I've got to tell one of you about that problem."

Sara glanced to Nick as Danea walked into the hallway.

"I've got this if you've got Rachel?" Nick asked uncertainly.

"I can take care of her enrollment paperwork, at least parts of it," Danea said.

Rachel nodded silently and moved to stand next to Sara's side, Bilmore still not oblivious from across the room.

"Okay, we'll be at my car," Sara said, mostly to Anita, so that Anita wouldn't wind up feeling that Sara was kidnapping one of her children.

Anita nodded. "We have our cell phones if you need us. Jeremy, is this something I don't know about?" she asked.

Jeremy shook his head. "It will make sense in a few minutes, I promise." He looked to Sara. "Just promise me you'll keep Rachel safe while we're doing school meetings in here."

"I promise," Sara said, glancing at Bilmore. She had the strangest premonition that was going to be a more difficult promise to keep than she had any reason to expect. "You okay to go back out to my car with me?"

Rachel folded her arms but nodded. "I'm still allowed to go to school, though, right?"

"Yeah, you're still allowed to go to school," Sara agreed, and then thought about what she was promising. "Not necessarily this school. We don't know for sure they have enough room. But we will find a school for you to go to, that much I can promise."

"Okay," Rachel agreed, her gaze still focused on Bilmore, even as she leaned in to allow Jeremy to brush his hand against hers.

Sara glanced at Danea and Anita to make certain she still had permission to take Rachel and then looked to where Nick had moved so that he was sheltering Jeremy from Bilmore's sight.

"You're probably going to be a little mad at me that I didn't tell you this when it happened," Jeremy was saying to Anita as Sara led Rachel back out through the hallway towards the front of the school.

Sara waited until she and Rachel were at her car before she spoke. "You recognized the man in the office?" she asked as she pat the space next to her on the hood of her car.

Rachel hesitated briefly before she sat down on the edge of the car hood and jumped and wiggled at the same time to get some purchase. "Yeah. He's friends with my dad," Rachel said flatly.

Sara sighed internally. It was relatively likely they had this man on camera and that was all they needed to prosecute. It was even possible they had a sperm sample from him from the hotel room. They almost certainly weren't going to need Rachel to testify against him, and it wasn't likely that Rachel was ready anyway. Probably they needed to look at getting Rachel into some sort of counseling or victim assistance program to help with that.

"Sara?" Rachel asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah?" Sara asked.

"Did he hurt Jeremy and Michael?" Rachel asked, her entire face crumpled in worry.

Sara opened her mouth to say no, and then paused. For all she knew, Jeremy and Michael had just told them that Bilmore was shady because they hadn't felt comfortable disclosing that abuse in that moment. Maybe that's what Jeremy's panic in the office was him realizing that he needed to tell them about the abuse.

"I'm not sure," Sara said truthfully after a moment. "It's possible, but hopefully, if that's so, Jeremy or Michael will feel safe enough to tell us that."

Rachel nodded thoughtfully. "If it helps, he was there while my dad was filming. Maybe, like you were able to get a warrant for Paul's computer, maybe because there was stuff on there he wasn't supposed to have, maybe a judge would give you a warrant for this guy too, since he was there when Paul was filming."

"That's a really good thought. Let me check with Greg and see if we can get that started," Sara said as she pulled her phone front her pocket and held down Greg's autocall button.

"Greg here," Greg said, the sound of a keyboard audible in the background.

"It's Sara. Were you able to find anything for me on Norris Bilmore?" Sara asked.

There was a long silence.

"Greg?" Sara asked, checking her phone to make sure she hadn't accidentally disconnected.

"You wanted to know what we have on Norris Bilmore?" Greg asked, his voice strangely distant.

"That's what I asked," Sara said, watching Rachel's curious head tilt.

"Well, we have him on camera, if that's what you're asking, and hopefully we'll have him in custody soon," Greg said. "Do you and Nick happen to have a twenty on him?"

"Western Las Vegas Middle School," Sara said, turning to see what had so visibly caught Rachel's attention. "But maybe not for long. Greg, do you have the FBI team there with you?"

"I do. Hold on," Greg said.

"Prentiss here," Emily said over the phone only seconds later. "Sara, how much danger are you in?"

"Minimal, but I'm not planning on letting Bilmore walk out of here, not when he knows we're onto him," Sara said as she checked her gun and tried to decide if it was safe to send Rachel into the school by herself.

"Your safety and the safety of the kids is your first priority," Emily said. "We're on our way to you. Greg says our ETA is just under ten minutes."

Sara shook her head and looked from where Bilmore was putting his shoulder bag in the back seat to where Rachel was watching him with a distant expression. "Bilmore's not going to wait that long. Can you stay on my phone with Rachel while I keep Bilmore here in the parking lot?"

There was a brief pause, Rachel looking up at Sara and seeming a little confused. "Yes, but your safety is a higher priority than keeping Bilmore in the parking lot, understood?" Emily asked.

"Understood. Give me just a moment and I'm going to pass you to Rachel," Sara said, taking the phone from her ear instead of waiting for a response. "Rachel?"

"Yeah?" Rachel asked.

"I need to stop Bilmore from leaving until the FBI shows up to bring him in for questioning. That means I need you to stay somewhere safe until the FBI gets here to help. Stay inside my car and listen to what FBI Agent Emily Prentiss tells you to do, okay?" Sara asked, hating how much this was clearly scaring Rachel. "The best way you can help right now is by me knowing that you're safe. Stay inside the car and listen to what Emily asks you to do."

Rachel bit her lip and her eyes flickered towards Bilmore before she nodded.

Sara briefly closed her eyes and exhaled. "Thank you," she said as she unlocked her car and opened the back seat. "Emily, I'm giving my phone to Rachel now. She's going to wait in my car until you get here," Sara said into her phone.

"Alright, I'll talk with her and keep her out of the line of fire," Emily said.

"Thank you, here we go," Sara said and then passed her phone to Rachel.

"Hi Agent Prentiss," Rachel said into the phone, pausing before correcting herself. "Okay, Emily."

Sara nodded and shut the car door, taking the time as she jogged across the parking lot to question herself about leaving a child in a car in Vegas, even if it was only March.

She reached Bilmore's car just as the engine started and she pulled her gun from her holster.

* * *

"Hi Agent Prentiss," Rachel's voice said over the phone line on speaker, only the slightest tremble noticeable.

"Just Emily, please," Emily said as she leaned into the turn and watched as JJ checked over her gun.

"Okay, Emily," Rachel said, not sounding less nervous.

Emily could hear the click of the car door shutting and guessed that was the sound of Sara leaving Rachel in her car. Their clock had officially started.

"We're about seven minutes out," Greg said from the front passenger seat.

"We're on our way to you, Rachel. We'll be there at the school in about seven minutes," Emily repeated. "Hey, Rachel? Would you want to help us by being our eyes there at the scene?"

"Okay," Rachel said, her voice immediately more steady. "Sara has her gun out and she's standing behind the car that Bilmore got into."

JJ's eyebrows went up and Emily was certain that would have gotten a reaction from Rossi if he hadn't been focused on speeding through the streets of Vegas. "Where is Sara pointing her gun at?" Emily asked.

"Damn it," Rossi muttered under his breath.

"She was pointing it at the ground, but now she's pointing it at the back of the car. At the trunk, not the window. Bilmore is still in the car and he started the car engine," Rachel described. "How is Sara going to stop Bilmore from backing her over with his car? Will she be able to shoot him in time to stop him?"

"Where the hell is Nick?" Greg asked himself, re-holstering his gun and pulling out his phone.

Emily thought all of these were good questions. "Sara is smart, she'll know to step out of the way if Bilmore seems like he will actually back up his car," Emily said, hoping that was true.

"Nick is not picking up," Greg said, his voice slightly panicked. "Can you ask Rachel if she knows where Nick is?"

"Rachel, do you know where Nick currently is?" Emily asked, leaning to glance at the clock on the SUV's dashboard. They were still five minutes out from the school.

"Nick was still in the front office of the school last time I saw him. He was with Jeremy, Anita, and Danea," Rachel said. "Do you want me to go try to find him?"

That was what Emily had been worried that Rachel was going to ask. "No, right now I want you to stay right there in Sara's car, unless someone other than Sara or I approach the car. If someone else tries to go near the car, we're going to help you find some place safe to go," Emily said, meeting JJ's eyes and wondering how much good they could possibly do if the situation escalated before they arrived.

"I'm worried about what Bilmore is going to do to Sara," Rachel said, pausing and then some odd sounds coming through the phone speaker.

"Rachel, what's happening?" Emily asked, not ashamed that her voice was moving towards notes of panic.

"Just climbing into the front seat so I can see better. Sara's pointing her gun at the car window now and I think she's saying something to him. Bilmore's engine is still on though. I don't think he likes her, but I don't know that Norris is strong enough to kill her," Rachel said.

Greg had twisted around in his seat, both of his eyebrows climbing his forehead. JJ looked stricken with the same expression of sorrow as when Hotch had called the team into his hotel room and explained the nature of the case and requested volunteers to go while he and a few of the team stayed in Seattle to finish their current case. Rossi was shaking his head, his focus still on the road.

"Rachel, what do you mean?" Emily asked, not at all certain that she wanted to know. She had been in the Crime Lab with Greg and Archie - reviewing who they had already arrested, who they had warrants for, and who they were still trying to identify - when Sara had called and asked what they had on Norris Bilmore. What they had was a video of Bilmore raping Rachel while she was tied to a hotel room bed, and then Bilmore's DNA from sperm in a bloody condom from the trash can in the hotel bathroom. Bilmore's DNA was already on file from a prior rape accusation where the charges had been dropped. "Rachel?"

"Norris talked to me for a bit. I think he's lonely. He said he didn't like most women because most women talk too much and are too mean. I don't think Sara is mean, I think she's nice, but I think Norris will probably think she's mean because she's telling him that he can't leave the parking lot," Rachel explained. "I wonder if Bilmore working here is the reason that Jeremy was worried about me going to school here."

"I think that's possibly a reason why," Emily said. "Jeremy and Michael both noticed that Norris seemed interested in young girls."

There was a short pause, Greg slumping back in his seat while JJ pressed her hand to her forehead.

"Interested in young girls?" Rachel asked. "But does that mean he wouldn't do something to hurt Jeremy and Michael?"

"Not necessarily," Emily said, thinking back over what Jeremy and Michael had told them about Bilmore. "It's not very likely, but not impossible. He's a history teacher here at the school."

"He said he taught US History and World History, but that his students didn't listen to him," Rachel said. "Sara is moving closer to the car now, her gun is still pointed at the window. Norris hasn't turned off his car yet."

"Okay," Emily said, hoping that Sara was smart enough to back off and let Bilmore drive away.

"ETA, just over two minutes," Greg said. "Hang on for the upcoming turns."

"We're going to be at the school in about two minutes," Emily repeated into the phone.

"Okay, I'm going to go tell Sara and distract Bilmore until you get here," Rachel said after a moment.

"No!" Emily said, hearing Rossi say the same from the front of the car. "Rachel, no. I need you to stay put in the car unless there is someone approaching the car. The best way you can help Sara right now is by staying in the car so she's not distracted by worrying if you're safe."

There was another short silence. "That's what Sara said too," Rachel finally said.

Emily exhaled with relief. "Listen to Sara, please. It's very important for her safety that she's able to focus all of her attention on Bilmore. Sara's a good criminalist. She knows what she's doing," Emily said, hoping that was still true even after Sara's judgement had been skewed by the difficult case subject and her attachment to the kids.

"What if she gets hurt because of me?" Rachel asked plaintively.

"If Sara gets hurt, it won't be because of you. It will be because someone chose to hurt her," Emily said firmly, though she understood exactly where Rachel was coming from.

"Sara wouldn't be out there to get run over if she didn't know me," Rachel countered.

"May I?" JJ asked, holding out her hand for the phone.

"Rachel, is it okay if my friend JJ speaks with you for a moment?" Emily asked.

"Okay?" Rachel agreed uncertainly.

"Here she is," Emily said and then passed the phone to JJ.

"Hi Rachel, it's JJ. We've met once before?" JJ asked.

"Yes, I remember you," Rachel said. "You're an FBI Agent, like Emily and Rossi."

"That's right," JJ said. "This is important, and it's a conversation I had to have with my son Henry recently. Sara's job as a criminalist is something dangerous, just like my job as an FBI Agent is sometimes dangerous. If Sara gets hurt while she's working, that's not her fault or her team's fault. It's not the fault of whoever she's trying to help. The only person who is at fault when someone in law enforcement gets hurt is the person who hurt them. So, right now, if Sara gets hurt, it's because she's doing her job as a law enforcement officer and Norris Bilmore chose to hurt her."

"Hold tight," Rossi called.

Emily grabbed onto the handle in the SUV and watched Greg and JJ do the same.

"Nick too?" Rachel asked after a moment.

Greg looked pained as he turned around and Emily thought it had more to do with the conversation than the sharp turn Rossi made into the middle school parking lot.

"Same for Nick too, and everyone on their team. They all do their best to stay safe, but sometimes people chose to hurt other people," JJ explained, her expression crumpling.

There was another silence and Emily started looking over the parking lot, hoping to spot Sara or Sara's car.

"Okay, I get that. It's like the military. Or maybe doctors. Sometimes they get hurt doing their jobs," Rachel said, her words sounding reluctant.

Emily could immediately understand the military connection, but doctors wouldn't have been her first pick in potentially dangerous professions. It made enough sense though.

"Yes, exactly," JJ said. "Okay, we're here in the parking lot. I'm going to give Emily back her phone now so we can go help Sara."

"Okay, thank you!" Rachel said.

Emily took her phone back and braced herself as she spotted Sara halfway across the parking lot. "Rachel, here's what's going to happen. When we stop the SUV, Rossi, JJ, and Greg are going to go help Sara. I'm going to find you. I want you to stay in the car until I tell you to get out, okay?"

"Okay," Rachel said. "Sara's car is a black Prius hybrid and it's a row away from where Sara is standing."

"Thank you," Emily said. "I'll be there in about thirty seconds. Try not to panic if you hear the sound of gunfire, just get as low to the floor of the car as you can."

"Okay," Rachel agreed, sounding more nervous now.

"Here we go," Greg said as she SUV rolled to a stop.

Emily pulled the door handle and then switched her cell phone to her non-dominant hand and drew her gun from her holster. JJ, Rossi, and Greg were already on their way to Sara and it took Emily a few seconds to locate Sara's car and jog over.

Rachel was waiting inside the front passenger seat, her expression worried as she pressed her hand against the car window.

"Are you alright?" Emily asked as she looked Rachel up and down the best she could from her vantage point.

"I'm fine. Is Sara okay?" Rachel asked.

"Let me check," Emily said into the phone and then stepped up to the front row of parked cars so she could see better.

Sara waved her open hand at Emily, looking safe but worried.

Emily holstered her gun and stretched her hand in the air to wave back and then gave a thumbs up.

Sara smiled in relief and gave a thumbs up in return.

"Sara is safe and fine," Emily said into the phone as she walked back to the side of Sara's car. "You and I are just going to wait here while they take care of Norris Bilmore."

"Okay," Rachel said, not looking significantly less worried.

Emily smiled reassuringly for a moment before looking out across the parking lot and watching as Rossi hauled Bilmore from his car while JJ covered him and Greg covered Sara. That was one more person from their list of child rapists off the streets. It would be good to call Katie from the lab later on and let her know they were making progress.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"Why don't I drive?" Nick offered, glancing at the time and then at where Sara was half slumped over on the break room couch.

"What time is it?" Sara asked, not opening her eyes.

Nick pulled out his phone, checking the time and then checking that none of the kids had texted him. "Almost noon," he said.

Sara moaned. "Are you okay to drive?" she asked, her reluctance obvious. "Maybe I'll just stay here today," she said before Nick could answer.

"I'm good to drive. And there's a spare bedroom at my place if you don't want to be alone tonight?" Nick offered.

Sara looked at him consideringly, though Nick couldn't begin to guess at what she was thinking. Just when he was starting to think that Sara wasn't going to answer, she stood up and said, "Okay, let's do this."

"Okay," Nick agreed. Feeling that it was a good thing that he'd gone looking to check in with Sara about the kids, he led the way toward the lockers while trying to find a non-invasive way to find out if Sara was okay.

They made it to Nick's car before Sara broke the silence. "I didn't really get a chance to see Jeremy much after I left the front office with Rachel. How was he during the meeting with the principal?" she asked.

"We wound up meeting with the vice principal and the school counselor, actually. Apparently Jeremy has been skipping classes quite frequently these past five months," Nick said, trying not to enjoy the way Sara's eyebrows shot up her forehead.

"I'm guessing Anita didn't know that little detail?" Sara asked as she pulled the passenger door shut.

Nick shook his head, pulling his own door shut. "Nope, nor was she particularly pleased that he'd been skipping classes for so long without the school contacting her. She asked them directly if they had been planning on letting her know if she hadn't set up the meeting at the school to discuss Jeremy and Rachel's safety at school," he said.

Sara chuckled. "I do like Anita. How did the principal and the counselor respond to that?"

"Actually, if you can believe it, we were meeting with the vice principal instead of the principal," Nick explained as he started the car. "I think the fact that setting up an emergency safety plan wasn't important enough to warrant a meeting with the principal may have been a contributing factor in Anita decided to unenroll Jeremy."

"I was wondering about that, given that both of the boys had expressed concerns about Rachel going to school there," Sara said, her frown deepening as Nick pulled up to a red light. "I have to admit, I'm not particularly thrilled about the idea of one of their teachers having been a child rapist."

"Me neither," Nick said, closing his eyes briefly. "I'm not sure how Jeremy is going to react to that once he realizes the extent of what Bilmore did. And God knows how Michael will respond. I suppose that will partially depend on if Rachel's the one to tell them."

"I'm not sure what she'll tell them. The only thing she told me about Bilmore was that he was there while Paul was filming," Sara said, grimacing.

"God," Nick said, unable to stop himself.

"The only other thing she said about Bilmore was that she was worried he had hurt Jeremy and Michael," Sara said.

"I doubt it," Nick said, turning into his neighborhood. "Bilmore seems exclusively interested in young girls."

Sara nodded. "So what was it that convinced Anita to take Jeremy from that school? It wasn't just the realization that Bilmore had abused Rachel, was it?"

"No, I'm pretty sure that wasn't the reason," Nick said. "Not the only reason at least. We're about two minutes from my place, if we can finish this conversation inside?"

Sara's eyebrows climbed again, but she nodded slowly. "Okay," she said.

Nick resisted the urge to look down and kept focused on the road. He still wasn't sure that disclosing the full conversation to Sara was the right thing to do, but he couldn't think of another way to honestly answer the question of why Anita had taken Jeremy out of the school. If it was anyone but Sara, he would have simply referred to the situation with Bilmore and left it at that. But Sara was just as involved in the kids lives as he was. Maybe giving her a heads up to the situation would help to ensure that Jeremy got the reaction he needed - even though he already knew that Sara didn't have any issues with homosexuality.

"Here we are," he said as he pulled into his driveway. "Me neighbors are generally pretty quiet, they know I work the night shift."

"That's nice of them," Sara said as she opened the car door and stepped out into the midday Vegas sun. "In the six years I've been here, my neighbors still haven't gotten the message. Fortunately it's mostly only a problem on weekends since most of them work day shift."

Nick nodded. "I'm pretty sure most of my neighbors are on the day shift. Sometimes it feels like I'm not around often enough to really know," he said, glancing out at the neighborhood he only barely recognized as his own. He unlocked and opened his front door, taking a moment to disarm his alarm system before standing aside to let Sara inside.

He half expected Sara to comment on the alarm system or about how he hadn't moved after he'd had a stalker living in his attic who had nearly killed him.

Sara made her way to the couch and sat down, leaving her bag at her feet and seeming almost exhausted. "So, that bad?" she asked as Nick sat down next to her.

"Part of it," Nick said cautiously. "Jeremy explained why he was skipping classes. Turns out there's been a group of kids harassing him and his friend Mikey."

"A group?" Sara repeated dubiously.

Nick nodded. "They've got a ringleader, Travis, who challenged Jeremy to a fight behind the school one day."

Sara's eyebrows continued to climb. "And Jeremy accepted? I don't know whether or not I'm surprised by that. He seems like he's such a smart kid."

"He is," Nick said quickly. "He is, he was just at the end of his rope from being constantly harassed by these kids. Jeremy is gay."

Sara sighed and looked pained. "Well that is going to make his life more difficult."

Nick nodded. "It already is. These kids were calling him fag and shoving him and tripping him in the hallway," he explained.

"No wonder he was skipping class," Sara said, her expression wavering between murderous and exhausted.

"Actually, he didn't start skipping classes until after the behind the school fight," Nick said, watching Sara's face flicker from anger to worried. "Jeremy's friend Mikey went with him, intending to provide a witness, but Travis brought a whole group with him and they jumped both of them. Travis pulled a knife on Jeremy and slashed him across the stomach. Jeremy has a six inch scar across his abdomen."

Sara blinked twice and started shaking her head. "Holy hell; he's lucky he didn't wind up with sepsis or at the very least an infection."

"I know," Nick agreed.

"And the school isn't doing anything about this?" Sara asked.

"They're going to bring in Travis and his group of friends and let the school officer question them. At some point Jeremy's probably going to need to make a statement and let them take pictures of that scar," Nick said and then sighed. "I don't know if Jeremy has the same issues with cameras as Rachel does."

Sara shrugged. "I don't know either. Honestly, after today I don't know how to read any of them," she said. "After today, I'm not sure of all that much of anything."

Nick frowned. "What happened out there today?"

Sara tipped her head back against the couch cushions and closed her eyes. Just when Nick thought she wasn't going to answer, she started speaking. "I nearly shot Norris Bilmore today. That was the closest I've ever come to killing someone."

Nick started to nod but Sara immediately started shaking her head.

"It's not like you're thinking. I don't feel guilty. I didn't feel guilty at the time. I was just standing there, my gun pointed at his head, knowing what he'd done to Rachel and wondering if I could get away with it," Sara said, looking at Nick with a plea in her eyes.

"That makes sense," Nick said, figuring he'd likely be in the same quandary if their positions had been reversed. Worse, he honestly couldn't say if he would have stopped himself from pulling the trigger. "What stopped you from killing Bilmore?"

Sara started laughing; it took nearly a minute before she was calm enough to speak again. "We have solid evidence against him - enough to secure a conviction. I started thinking about what was probably going to happen to him in prison when it's revealed that he's there for raping a child."

"He won't survive a month once that's common knowledge," Nick said, following Sara's train of thought.

"Exactly," Sara said. "And, if I get benched and put on review, that takes me out of the field and off this case. And I need to be able to protect Rachel. I have to make sure things turn out better for her than they did for me."

Nick paused, wondering if he should ask what Sara mean by that. By most standards, Sara's life was incredibly successful.

"Do you have any...coffee?" Sara asked, smiling as she shook her head. "I probably shouldn't be drinking coffee at noon, but I need something right now."

Nick nodded, getting the feeling that coffee was not the word Sara had originally wanted to use there. "I'll put on the pot. It's a little weird, isn't it? The responsibility of kind of having kids?"

"I hadn't thought of it like that," Sara said as she followed him into the kitchen. "I do keep wanting to apologize to Anita, like I'm bonding with Rachel where she should be."

"Exactly," Nick said, finishing measuring the grounds. "I feel like this is what being a father must feel like. A little bit, at least. And I keep wanting to apologize to Anita too - I know she didn't sign on to co-parent with me."

Sara leaned against the counter and drummed her fingers absently. "I guess this must be kind of how Catherine feels about Lindsey. Protective, responsible, and all too aware of how dangerous it is out there. I suppose that's what being a mother should feel like."

"That and there's also an element of fun to parenting. Playing with them, watching them learn, listening to their ideas and thoughts," Nick said with an absent smile. "Like with Lindsey when Catherine brings her to the lab."

"Like with Lindsey," Sara immediately agreed.

"I always wanted to be a father," Nick confessed, glancing nervously at Sara before continuing. "I figured that would be a part of my life eventually, but there was never anyone I've been able to trust before. Not until I realized these last few days how much I trust you."

Sara blinked a few times and slightly bobbed her head. "I know what you mean. I never thought I'd want kids. I never thought that would be something I'd want in my life. But being around you - going through all of this with you, and Rachel and Jeremy and Michael; it's like I've suddenly been shown what a family is supposed to be like. At some point, if both of us keep feeling like this, we're going to have to talk to Anita about co-parenting with her."

"Do you think she'd be open to that?" Nick asked, trying not to let himself hope.

"It's possible," Sara shrugged. "It seems to be something the kids want, if nothing else."

Nick smiled and watched as the first drops of coffee started to fall. "Yeah, they do seem to want us around."

"Where are your mugs?" Sara asked.

"Second cabinet, first shelf," Nick directed. He watched Sara cross the kitchen, turning the word _family_ over and over in his mind.

* * *

Sara woke up with a start as she rolled onto her side and struggled to swallow around the lump in her throat. Nightmares were not uncommon for her on a regular basis - in part because of her history, and in part because of her work. The nightmares had been nightly ever since they'd rescued the kids.

She had been careful to avoid seeing the contents of the video camera from the hotel room and Paul's laptop, but even without the visuals Bilmore was showing up in her dreams. This time, instead of Bilmore and Rachel's dad, it had been Bilmore and Sara's dad. Sara had been trapped, watching helplessly while her father had led Rachel into the larger room and brought her to the center of the king sized bed.

In her dream - Sara had to keep reminding herself it had been a dream and her father was dead - Rachel had watched Sara, her big, deep brown eyes silently asking why Sara was letting this happen to her. Sara sighed, fully awake now, and listened to the unasked question echo in her thoughts. Even though it wasn't a question that Rachel was likely to ask - or Jeremy or Michael for that matter - Sara knew that it was a question that would dog her regardless. They still didn't know why Rachel hadn't been rescued when Jeremy and Michael had been, and until they did know Sara would be haunted by the feeling that the LVPD and DCFS were partially responsible for the past six years of suffering that Rachel had endured.

A low moan drew Sara from her thoughts and she rolled over to find Nick in bed next to her. She was relatively certain this was Nick's bedroom rather than his guest room, though she only vaguely remembered agreeing to go to Nick's apartment last night in the first place and didn't at all remember deciding to sleep in his bed. She felt her lips turn up in a smile as she watched Nick sleep. At the very least she didn't have the worry that she would upon waking up in the same bed with most men and only having a minimal recollection of how she got there: there was no way she and Nick had sex last night.

Beyond the fact that she was wearing her own shirt and what felt like a pair of Nick's workout shorts, and Nick was at the very least wearing a t-shirt, she didn't believe that Nick would have sex with someone while they were too exhausted to make rational decisions. Sara sighed and tried hard not to finish following where that line of thought wanted to go, for multiple reasons.

Nick gave another pained moan in his sleep, followed by a full body twitch, and this time Sara reached out and rested her hand on the top of Nick's shoulder.

"Nick. Nick," Sara said, aiming to keep her voice soft and gentle. "Time to wake up. You're having a nightmare."

He twitched again and inhaled harshly before his eyes popped open.

Sara met his eyes, watching as he stared at her and tried to figure out who she was and how she'd got there.

"Late night?" he asked, his shoulder slumping.

"A bit," Sara agreed, removing her hand from his shoulder. "It's dark outside, so the kids are probably in bed, or at least close, but I bet at least some of the FBI will still be at the lab."

Nick blinked twice and then started laughing. "The kids. For a few seconds there, I was trying to think like they were ours. Like the boys had bunkbeds over in the guest bedroom, and this was our bedroom, and we had redone the office into a bedroom for Rachel."

Sara smiled, letting herself enjoy Nick's fantasy for a moment. "I think it would probably work better for Jeremy and Rachel to share a room and for Michael to have his own room. Or, that seems to be how they prefer it."

"You're right. We should let them decide," Nick nodded and then rolled onto his back and shook his head, his mouth lapsing into a saddened frown. "I don't know what I'm even thinking. After…"

"After?" Sara prompted when Nick didn't continue on his own.

Nick shook his head and then went still. "I still have nightmares sometimes," he said quietly almost a full minute later, avoiding Sara's gaze.

"So do I," Sara said, forcing herself not to look away as Nick slowly turned back so that he was looking at her. "Sometimes because of cases, sometimes because of something someone says or does, sometimes for no reason at all."

Nick blinked a few times and then pulled his hand out from under the covers and offered it to her.

Sara placed her hand over his and gently squeezed, letting her eyes slip closed again.

"You're right," Nick said, pausing to swallow in order to clear his throat. "We are who we are. What we've experienced doesn't mean we can't be parents, or have a family, or anything else, anymore than it means that the kids can't go to school and have friends and everything else."

Sara nodded slowly and opened her eyes again. "We are who we are," she agreed. And she was going to do everything she possibly could to get these kids to safety - the safety they deserved.


End file.
